Exclusive: Labour Sounds The Alarm Over Future Of NHS Under Reform

Labour has warned Brits could face a winter nightmare over their healthcare if Reform were to get into power.

Nigel Farage has long caused concern over his plans for the National Health Service (NHS).

In May 2025, the Reform UK leader said: “I do not want it funded through general taxation.”

And in January, he was asked about an insurance-based model for the NHS earlier this year, comparable to the one used in the States.

Farage said he was “open to anything”.

Last year, the Clacton MP also warned that it was time for a “fundamental rethink” of NHS funding.

Farage – then part of Ukip – also called for a move away from state-funded healthcare in 2014.

In the US, the mean cost of a hospital stay for the winter flu was the equivalent of almost £11,000 in 2024.

Research in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in early 2024 suggested the cost of dealing with frostbite could be at almost £33,000.

A 2025 study of US healthcare costs found armed forces veterans who had to hospitalised with norovirus had a bill in excess of £10,000.

And those who might need treatment for a hip fracture could end up paying just under £40,000, according to a 2019 US study.

Labour’s health minister Stephen Kinnock claimed: “This is the Christmas yet to come if Nigel Farage and Reform have their way.

“For years, Farage has been clear he doesn’t believe in an NHS funded out of general taxation, and that he thinks Britons should be charged to use the health service. Farage cannot be trusted with our NHS.

“Labour is fixing our NHS and bringing health services closer to home. We’ve delivered over 5 million extra NHS appointments and waiting lists are coming down. With Labour, our NHS will always be free at the point of use.”

But a Reform spokesperson hit out at Labour’s claims, telling HuffPost UK: “Reform UK will never privatise the NHS.

“Under a Reform UK government, our NHS will always stay free at the point of use. 

“These are desperate lies from a Labour government failing in office.”

This is not the first time Labour have criticised Reform’s plans for healthcare.

Health secretary Wes Streeting accused Farage of planning to deport NHS staff in an immigration crackdown back in September, and Welsh secretary Jo Stevens claimed Reform wants to “sell the NHS to the highest bidder” back in July.