A local councillor insists that people in Moray are “wise” to the truth over the future of the National Health Service in an independent Scotland.
Councillor Sean Morton hit back at what he describes as “scaremongering’ by the SNP over the future of the NHS in Scotland, pointing out that NHS Scotland is fully operated by the Scottish Government and that would continue regardless of the result of the referendum in September.
A national row has broken out between Labour and SNP over the issue after a consultant breast surgeon claimed that without independence the NHS in Scotland would “wither away”.
Dr Philippa Whitford, a consultant at the Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, said that the Tory agenda of bringing private firms into the NHS convinced her that voting Yes was the right thing to do.
She said: “In five years England will not have an NHS and in 10 years, if we vote No, neither will Scotland.”
Her comments were quickly grasped by SNP politicians, with the SNP’s Aileen McLeod saying: “These comments from a top surgeon and breast cancer specialist bring the choice of two futures facing Scotland in September into stark focus.
“With a Yes vote we can ensure that not only will Tory privatisation of the health service be stopped at the border but our NHS remains properly funded.”
However, Fochabers/Lhanbryde Councillor Sean Morton, who is set to stand as a candidate for the UK Parliament in the general election next year, hit back at the SNP view, insisting that people in Moray were wise to the ‘real threat’ facing the NHS.
He said: “The NHS in Scotland was recently described by Scotland’s most senior doctor as a ‘car crash’.
“This is just so typical of the nationalists – rather than sorting out some of the major problems our NHS is facing on their watch, they point the finger down south in order to scare people into voting Yes in September.
“The truth is, and people in Moray are wise to it, the real threat to the NHS is a Yes vote because of the deep cuts to public spending that are predicted by independent experts if Scotland breaks away from the security and stability of the UK.
“They have a right to their view on the future of our country but they do not have a right to spread misinformation.”