The Tories need to move the agenda off the NHS if they’re to have any chance
I had sort of stopped watching PMQs every week because it is just less interesting and less important. Corbyn is getting a bit better but both he and TMay are pedestrian compared with others that we’ve seen over the years.
My reduced interest is reflected in the fact that the Commons appears less full for the event compared with previous times.
Today, I did watch, and inevitably the Labour leader focused on the NHS and the Conservative leader used the standard replies of which we have heard so much. Whenever TMay is pressed on the NHS she always retorts about what’s happening in Labour’s Wales. This time Corbyn had an answer to that saying that this was because of the limited money that is allocated to the principality.
Assuming that the next election is in 2022 that will be three and a bit years on from Brexit and we can assume that that issue won’t be the dominant feature. Maybe we’ll still have the EU blame game but things will have moved on.
This inevitably means that we will be back with domestic issues like the NHS making running. With an aging population and more pressure on NHS services it will be hard for things to get better.
This is an issue where the Tories appear always to get beaten. They’re not seen as being as committed to the service as Labour as we see in just about every “best party on the NHS” polling.
At the very basic for TMay needs some better and newer lines on the NHS. She does come over as formulaic.