In message <[log in to unmask]> Dr Adrian Midgley wrote:
> The income from the prescription charge tax is not hypothecated to the NHS
> AFAIK. It could be, but a general principle of the Treasury is not to
> hypothecate any income.
>
> I think the prescription charge is a bad tax, so the more it is replaced by
> money raised through general taxation the better.
Perhaps so but with the current government pandering to
the (apparent) wish of the electorate to reduce general
income tax to the minimum, this is unlikely to happen.
The present government seems intent on increasing the
prescription charge over and above the rate of inflation
until, presumably, everyone who pays will want a private
prescription, thus smoothing the transition from a
nationalised health service to (for those who can afford
it) a private health service.
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