Unions win rethink by Labour on NHS

Union leaders claimed victory yesterday over a Labour Party policy document that appeared to water down the founding principles of the NHS.

They said that controversial references to an NHS as "largely comprehensive" and "overwhelmingly free at the point of use" would be dropped after objections from the party's national policy forum.

Alan Milburn, the Secretary of State for Health, attended the meeting at the party's Millbank headquarters in London and was "left in no doubt" over the strength of feeling about the document, revealed this week by The Independent.

Mr Milburn and Charles Clarke, the party chairman, are thought to have agreed to redraft the paper after facing hostile questioning from delegates and union representatives.

A spokeswoman for Unison said: "The consensus from the policy forum was that the offending words "largely" and "overwhelmingly" should be removed. We expect that when the document is redrafted those words will not appear. The Secretary of State for Health was at the forum and he was left in no doubt of the feeling of people about the use of such language."

A spokesman for the GMB union added: "The ministers have listened to the concerns and seem to be accepting that changes have to be made."

Mr Milburn angrily denied the suggestion that charges were being introduced by the back door. He told Today on BBC Radio 4: "We don't think new charges are the right way. We think the best way of doing that is the traditional way, through general taxation."