Wes Streeting has vowed to fight “loud opposition” to his health reforms on both the left and the right of politics as he warned the future of the NHS was at stake.
But the health secretary said that when it came to improving the nation’s lifestyles he wanted to make changes “with” people and not “to” them, adding he was not the “fun police”.
He also said he would not ban cake in the Department of Health, advocating an approach of moderation.
He was speaking at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), as the think tank launched a report warning that Britain is the “sick man of Europe”.
The IPPR Commission was co-chaired by Lord Darzi, who earlier this month wrote a hard-hitting report on the state of the NHS for the government.
Mr Streeting said: “The great thing about the Darzi report – it is not a left-wing or a right-wing view of the NHS. It told hard truths to both sides of the debate.
“And it forces me to now take on both left and right-wing orthodoxies.” He added: “Unless we do public health reform, the right will have to accept higher costs for healthcare, paid for by higher taxes. I don’t think that’s a price working people can afford to pay.
“The left has to accept health service reform, or there will be no health service. At least not as we currently recognise it.
“Reform always has opponents, often vocal and powerful opponents. The Prime Minister and I will face down that opposition because it is in the interest of patients, the health service, and taxpayers in this country.
“It really is reform or die, and we choose reform.”
Asked about concerns over potential “nanny state” policies, he said: “I have not banned cake in the Department of Health…I’m really not interested in being the fun police or telling people how to live their lives, and people certainly won’t have to worry about closing their curtains at night in case I’m peering through the window and looking at what they’re eating, drinking or smoking.”
“When it comes to having some cake or going down the pub,” he added, “everything in moderation”.
“And crucially, when it comes to measures we are considering, especially where this involves legislation, I don’t believe in doing things to people, I believe in doing things with people – we want to change the national conversation about our health and our wellbeing and the types of reforms that we might want to see.
“Smoking is at the easier end of the spectrum frankly, it is still the biggest killer. It is uniquely harmful, it is uniquely addictive and there are unquestionably harms that occur through second-hand smoking and passive smoking, we’ve got to take that seriously,
“But we’re going to consult, we’re going to engage and we are going to enjoy the national debate in the process.”