Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that his decision to abolish NHS England could spell "disaster" for the Government.
Delivering his latest set of proposed reforms earlier this week, Starmer announced the body which oversees the NHS would be scrapped - placing it back in "democratic control".
Addressing the crowd in Hull, Starmer stated: "I can announce we’re going to cut bureaucracy across the state, focus Government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the front line.
"I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control, by abolishing the arms-length body NHS England."
'The NHS is incredibly wasteful—so much money is spent poorly on middle management. But what absolutely terrifies me is that it’s Labour in charge. Look at Wales, it’s a complete and utter disaster.' — Lee Harris
GB News / PA
Discussing the move on GB News, political commentator Lee Harris claimed that although he gives Labour "credit" for the decision, it will create "pressure" on the Government.
Harris explained: "I'm going to give Labour a little bit of credit here - of course the NHS is incredibly wasteful - there is so much waste and money that just is spent poorly on middle management.
"And so yeah, I mean to give Labour their credit, this needs to be done."
However, Harris cautioned that abolishing the NHS England body will mean "Labour is in charge", which he claimed is "terrifying".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Keir Starmer has announced the abolition of NHS England
GettyHarris told GB News: "What absolutely terrifies me is the fact that it's Labour in charge. We are just about to hand a massive 30,000 people in total. I think there's 10,000 in office and then 20,000 other managers that are going to go. That's nuts.
"That number is hard to compute - 30,000 managers are about to go. But what is terrifying is that we're about to hand all of that work to Labour."
Highlighting the sheer impact on the Government, Harris added: "And if you look at Wales, it's a complete and utter disaster. So I kind of agree with what they're doing, but I just really hope that there's some cross-party work on this.
"Because if it's left to Labour, it could be an absolute disaster."
Harris told GB News that the move could be an 'absolute disaster' for Labour
GB News
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has doubled down on the Government's decision to abolish NHS England, affirming it is "absolutely the right thing to do".
Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, Streeting explained: "I am mindful of the fact that there are lots of people whose jobs will will be impacted, and there's no sugar coating that, it's not their fault. They're working in a bureaucracy that's grown beyond a reasonable size, and a system that is full of waste and duplication and efficiency.
"We're tackling all of those issues, and in terms of job losses, we will obviously treat people fairly with respect, but there will be job losses in order to achieve hundreds of millions of pounds worth of savings.
"There are people's jobs and livelihoods affected, and I am sorry about that because I know the fear and anxiety that it creates. But we've got to achieve those savings that we can put into frontline NHS services and also deal with the layer of bureaucracy that we see in the NHS."
