Johnson insists ‘drop in the ocean’ £1.8 billion for the NHS is ‘new’ money

The prime minister has insisted that £1.8 billion of “extra spending” for the NHS is “new” money, despite critics claiming the money was not enough and had been recycled by hospitals cutting costs.

Addressing claims from the Health Foundation that the new money is a “drop in the ocean”, Boris Johnson said: “Don’t forget that this is £1.8 billion of new money. It wasn’t there 10 days ago.”

“It’s on top of the extra £34 billion we are putting into the NHS and I’ve said that my job is to make sure that we use the funds that go into the NHS to reduce the time you wait to see your GP, the time you wait in A&E – and that’s why we are doing it today.”

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn echoed criticisms from inside the health industry, saying the new funds are not enough to fix all the hospital issues.