Tory in Labour's clothing

I know that this blog is about the Tories, but I had to comment on this blog by Pat McFadden, the MP for Wolverhampton South East (it is posted on the home page under "10 points for the new Labour leader" and there is no permalink, <sigh> ).

1. Understand that what much of the public means by fairness and what Labour politicians mean are often different things. For many people, fairness in public services is about the concept of exchange – people feel they have paid in and on that basis can draw down, be it in health treatment, social housing, pensions and so on. Yet often, public goods are not allocated on the basis of exchange but purely on the basis of need. It may be argued this is the fairest way yet the absence of an inbuilt concept of reciprocity lies at the root of much anger about issues as varied as the banks, housing allocation, welfare benefits and immigration. Those who raise concerns on these issues are not bigots. They are asserting that fairness should be about what you put in, as well as what you take out.

Oh dear Pat, you really do not get it do you? The public do not think that they have paid-in to the NHS. In fact it is often difficult to get most people to recognise that the NHS is paid out of their taxes. To most people the NHS is just there, and you get NHS healthcare because you need it. In fact the fairness of the NHS model is that regardless of how rich you are, or how much tax you have paid, you will get the ebst healthcare available on a principle of need. If you dare to suggest that people should have an entitlement according to what they have paid in, then you have started the slippery slope down the road of healthcare insurance and private health.

Please, remove this offensive statement.