Government fury as MP brands the NHS and pensions ‘a Ponzi scheme’ about to collapse
THE country's state pension and healthcare system are Ponzi schemes about to fall apart and the country is headed for bankruptcy, according to junior Justice Minister Phillip Lee.
A GOVERNMENT minister faced No10 fury last night after branding the NHS and pensions “a Ponzi scheme” about to collapse.
In a devastating assault ex-doctor Phillip Lee said his party were asking young voters “to work really, really hard” to pay for something “but when you get to 65, it's not going to be there.”
Dodgy Ponzi schemes see investors conned into paying vast sums into a scam that only makes money for older subscribers.
The pyramid scheme was named after notorious 1920s conman Charles Ponzi.
Ambitious Mr Lee - who has been tipped as an outside contender to replace Theresa May - made the incendiary comparison while speaking at a fringe event at his party’s Manchester conference.
Addressing the Social Market Foundation think tank, the junior Justice Minister warned the country was heading for bankruptcy, adding: “do we tax work or do we levy assets?”
And he said his party’s current message to under forties was we will “tax you even more because this Ponzi scheme that we've had in play for pensions and for healthcare and for social care for the past thirty years is about to collapse.
“So therefore we want you to work really, really hard, but when you get to 65, it's not going to be there”, he added.
And he warned: “Hands up who thinks that's a really compelling narrative?”
But Labour slammed the comments saying the “cat is out of the bag”.
Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth hit out: “Tory Ministers are openly conceding that years of underfunding has pushed our NHS and social care sector to the brink.”
He added: “It's astonishing that one of Theresa May's team feels compelled to describe the NHS as a ponzi scheme about to collapse.
And he demanded the PM listen to the warnings, saying: “enough is enough, patients deserve better.”
A Conservative spokesman hit back: "We take the NHS, social care and pensions incredibly seriously - caring for the sick and looking after the elderly are two of the most important roles of government.
"That's why we are protecting and increasing pensions and spending an extra £8bn on the NHS this parliament.”
