Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has backed Robert Jenrick to be the leader of the Conservative Party and said he has the right ideas for the future of the party and the country.
She also said she feared that a forthcoming report into the state of health care for children would be used by the Government as cover to justify tax rises.
Atkins told Camilla Tominey on GB News: “I think we need to take a cold, hard look at why we lost the General Election. I don't think actually it's a matter of left or right within the party. I think it's a matter of trust.
“We need to regain voters’ trust and having spoken to all of the candidates, all of whom are very impressive, have some really great ideas, and I will be delighted to support any of them, should they win, but for me, personally, I just really like the ideas that Rob has for the future of our party and the future of our country.
“One of the things I have long been concerned about is how younger people, younger generations, are faring. When I was Health Secretary, I talked about that social contract between young people and the NHS breaking down, and that's why we have to reform the NHS and make sure it's more tech savvy to address the modern day lives that we all now lead.
“Rob has spoken a lot about that and I very much hope that together we will find the common ground that unites, I think, tens of millions of people around this country, because I've always said this country has conservative instincts in that we want to build a brighter future for our children.
“We want to have our own homes. We want a good education. We want a good health service for when we need it, principles around which the entire Conservative Party will unite.
“But today, the urgency is that one thing on which we all agree is that on Tuesday, Labour MPs have been forced to vote on the winter fuel payment because we as Conservatives forced the Government to have questions before that. Labour MPs are going to have to make that choice themselves.”
Asked if leaving the ECHR and a cap on migration was needed, she said: “I support a cap on migration. Of course, we have always attracted the brightest and the best to this country.
“With the health service, I’m delighted when an expert oncologist wants to come from America to work here or elsewhere in the world. That is great news for the UK, for the NHS.
“In terms of the ECHR, in 2014 going back that far, I wrote a policy paper where I said, as a criminal barrister working in the criminal courts, I could see the impact that the ECHR was having on criminal cases.
“I called for us to repeal Labor's Human Rights Act, because it is that piece of legislation that has brought the ECHR into direct application in UK law.
“ I have a long history, in fact, of being sceptical about the way in which the ECHR is applied in our country, different ways that we can deal with this. In fact, I want us to have a debate about whether we can reform the court, whether we can derogate.
“I think those are all very, very proper debates we should have. But the one thing that the Conservative Party has shown is that the Conservative Party wants to control migration, whereas the Labour Party seems to be opening our shores.”
Asked about the forthcoming report on the state of health care for children, she said: “I've seen both the very best of the NHS, but also some of its darker corners, and that is what drove me on as Health Secretary to drive up those improvements.
“But I am concerned about this report. Obviously, none of us have seen it, not even the Health Secretary, apparently, and what concerns me…is that they seem to be chasing headlines.
“Lord Darzi is a very respected, eminent surgeon. Of course, he is also, it's fair to say, a former Labour minister and a former Labour peer.
“This report should be about what the state of the NHS is and providing solutions and what worries me is that Labour is using this report as cover for the tax rises they plan to raise on us all at the Budget in October.”
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