Sir - The last Labour Government laid the groundwork for everything that the Conservative-led coalition is now doing to the NHS: market structures, foundation trusts, GP consortia and the introduction of private corporations into commissioning. These are all products of the ill-conceived Labour vision of “public service reforms”.

However, since then, David Cameron, aided and abetted by Nick Clegg, has paved the way to turn over the NHS to a plethora of private companies, which either commission or provide services, or both. The NHS is being softened up for privatisation, which was the real purpose of the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 all along. According to the British Medical Journal, a third of new contracts awarded between April 2013 and August 2014 went to the private sector.

Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems and UKIP all promise that the NHS will remain free at the point of use. However, private companies like Virgin and Serco are taking profits out of the system.

Expensive private finance initiative (PFI) financed hospitals are spending our money on poorly negotiated contracts instead of front line services. Accident and emergency waiting times are at record levels, yet so much of our money has been wasted in fragmentation, waste and paying private companies.

On 1st July 2011, Robin Walker MP stated in a public meeting that he did not agree with privatising the NHS and that he did not think the Government would be in power again if it allowed it to happen. On the 7th May you can cast your vote for an alternative to the mainstream parties' cuts and privatisation.

Louis Stephen

Green Party