Ed Miliband has promised to fight for the future of the NHS and David Cameron repeated his pledge to cut benefits for working-age people as the party leaders marked 100 days to go before the general election.
Both leaders gave early interviews to broadcasters as they attempted to dominate the airwaves with their strongest issues in the runup to the election on 7 May.
Ahead of a speech outlining Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS, Miliband said there was a big fight on for the future of the health service at a perilous moment in its history.
“The NHS was hardly an issue in the 2010 general election, that’s because David Cameron told people that it was going to be fine, he could be trusted with it, and look at what’s happened to our NHS,” said Miliband.
In his Manchester speech, he will promise 36,000 more staff, the repeal of privatisation laws, and the end of 15-minute visits by care workers.
Miliband has been able to argue that the coalition is responsible for a crisis in A&E and the ambulance service but he has also been under pressure to say whether he once said he wanted to “weaponise” the NHS for political purposes. He told BBC Radio 5 Live he could not remember whether he had ever used that phrase, after previously avoiding the question.
Separately, Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, was challenged over Labour’s record in Wales where some measures of waiting times are higher than in England.
He hit back saying that was “the government’s line”.
“They always want to say look at Wales. Wales is a very different health service with very different geography... The Nuffield Trust looked at the four health systems in the UK and found there were good and bad in all, Wales is better on cancer care than England, there’s a mixed picture across the UK.”
He said the NHS in England is the service at risk of being “sunk by a toxic mix of cuts and privatisation.”
Labour launched its NHS pledges as a new BBC poll by Populus shows the NHS is seen as the single most important issue for the electorate in terms of subjects they want covered in the news.
Meanwhile, Cameron attempted to drown out the Labour launch of its NHS pledge by giving a series of interviews promising to lower the cap on benefits from £26,000 to £23,000, a pledge he first made at the Tory conference in the autumn.
He said he would use the money to fund extra apprentices, and would lower the benefits cap within days of being returned to office. He also promised again to remove housing benefit from 18- to 21-year-olds.
Speaking on the Today programme, Cameron defended the way the benefit cuts will fall on working-age people again, rather than pensioners whose state payments have been protected for the last five years.
“It wouldn’t be fair to target pensioners with reductions. It is right to protect pensioners and give people dignity and security in old age, as this government has done,” he said.
The Sun called for cuts to these benefits for wealthy older people – including winter fuel payments and free television licences – but Cameron’s comments suggest he is preparing to pledge to keep them for another five years.
The prime minister also said it was right to include child benefit in the £23,000 cap despite the fact it may disproportionately affect families with a large number of children.
He said: “This tells you everything you need to know about our values. Conservatives believe we should be giving people the chance of a better future while encouraging people on benefits back into work.”
The prime minister said people listening who work 10 or 11 hours a day would not want their tax money going to people who are able to work.
Labour has said it does not oppose the benefits cap, but finds the issue internally divisive since it knows polling supports the cap, but many of its supporters oppose the change.
Cameron said the cap had resulted in a stampede of the unemployed into work, but claims that there is a causal link between lower unemployment and the benefits cap have proved controversial.
On Tuesday morning, Cameron also prevaricated again over whether he would agree to television debates with Miliband and other party leaders. While claiming he wants the contest to take place before the campaign starts in earnest at the end of March, the prime minister confirmed he believed the Northern Ireland parties should also be involved.
