Labour to press government on NHS funding with opposition day debate

Labour is going to press the government over NHS funding with an opposition day debate in the House of Commons.

The discussion will come after the launch of Labour's third election pledge on the NHS and will come as the parties step up their campaigning 99 days before the general election.

Chris Leslie, Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, claimed that the health service was "in crisis" under the Tories.

"The risky and extreme spending plans the Tories want to pursue after the election will take public spending back to a share of GDP last seen in the 1930s, before there was a NHS," he added.

"There are only four OECD countries which have public spending at such low levels and all of them have significantly higher charging as a share of overall national health spending than in the UK."

Ed Miliband has promised that a Labour government would raise an extra £2.5bn ($3.8bn, €3.3bn) a year through a so called "Mansion Tax" on properties worth more than £2m.

The party leader also pledged to close down tax loopholes and a levy on the tobacco companies.

Labour said the moves would enable the funding of an extra 20,000 nurses and 8,000 GPs, guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours and cancer tests within one week.

The attack comes after Miliband outlined Labour's "10-year plan" for the NHS, including longer home visits by social care workers.

Elsewhere, David Cameron has promised that a Conservative government would slash the benefits cap by £3,000 to pay for more apprenticeships.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have launched an election poster deliberately parodying a Tory placard.

Nick Clegg's party plan is to attack Labour and the Conservatives for "wanting to veer off course" by threatening the economic recovery by "either borrowing too much or cutting too much".