Exclusive: Boris Johnson warns Theresa May she must commit to giving NHS extra £100m a week to defeat Jeremy Corbyn

Boris Johnson stands in front of the Vote Leave bus, which carried the slogan: “We sent the EU £350million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead.”
Boris Johnson stands in front of the Vote Leave bus, which carried the slogan: “We sent the EU £350million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead.” Credit: PA

Boris Johnson has warned Theresa May that the Government must make a public commitment to giving the NHS an extra £100million a week after Brexit if the Tories are to beat Jeremy Corbyn at the next election.

The Foreign Secretary believes that the Government must adopt the flagship Vote Leave pledge and spend £5.2billion a year that would have been paid into Brussels on the health service instead.

His intervention comes as hospitals struggle to cope with the winter flu crisis amid an ongoing row between the Government and NHS England over funding.

Mr Corbyn, the Labour leader, has put the issue at the forefront of his campaigning. Mr Johnson is likely to have the support of Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary and leading Leave campaigner, alongside senior Eurosceptic Tory MPs as he makes his case for the commitment.

An ally of Mr Johnson told The Telegraph: “Boris thinks that for the Tories to beat Corbyn it is fundamental that the government delivers on NHS funding and he will continue to make this argument until it happens.

“Every poll conducted shows the NHS is top of swing voter concerns and every expert says it needs more money - the Cabinet will have to act and the sooner the better.

“This isn't about the referendum, it's about listening to the public's priorities and beating Corbyn - colleagues should move on from the referendum debate and start to focus on the future.”

During the EU referendum Vote Leave emblazoned the side of Mr Johnson’s bus with the slogan: “We sent the EU £350m a week, let’s fund our NHS instead.”

The group subsequently argued that the NHS would receive a £100m-a-week “transfusion” from the money it previously paid into the European Union, a pledge which Mr Johnson is pressing Mrs May to honour.

Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England, highlighted the Vote Leave pledge during a recent row with the Government over NHS funding. He said last year: “The NHS wasn’t on the ballot paper, but it was on the battle bus.”

Another senior Cabinet source said: “Boris is absolutely right, we must take the fight to Labour on the NHS. Remain or Leave it won’t matter at the next election, it’s what we deliver on the core issues like the NHS that will count at the ballot box. The sooner we realise that the better.”

The Foreign Secretary was also supported by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was on Tuesday night elected as head of the influential European Reform Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs.

Mr Rees-Mogg said: “It is clear the NHS is under strain, the chief executive of NHS England has asked for this. It is important that implied promises are delivered on by politicians. I strongly support what Boris is saying.

“It became clear to me campaigning during the General Election that if we didn’t have a good case to make on 2022 on the health service we will be in real trouble."

The £350m-a-week figure proved one of the most controversial claims of the referendum and was declared misleading by the UK Statistics Authority because it took no account of the money Britain gets back through its rebate.

However in an interview with the Guardian Mr Johnson defended the gross figure, and argued that it would rise to £438m by 2020. “There was an error on the side of the bus,” Mr Johnson said. “We grossly underestimated the sum over which we would be able to take back control.”

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