America should avoid copying Britain, warns Tory MEP

A Tory MEP has warned Americans against copying the NHS and called instead for a system of personal health accounts to deliver better healthcare.

Daniel Hannan renewed his criticisms of the NHS as Barack Obama's own reforms faced sustained opposition in the US media and at "town hall" meetings. The President's healthcare plans are seen as one factor in his popularity ratings dipping to 50 per cent for the first time since he took office.

Yesterday he hit back at critics, claiming they were trying to "scare the heck" out of the elderly and alleging that "special interests" among US insurance firms were leading the opposition.

Mr Obama pledged during his election campaign to devise a new tax-funded system to extend free healthcare to those not covered by the safety net of the government's Medicare and Medicaid. But Republicans have seized on the issue and Mr Hannan - already a darling of the US Right for his YouTube attack on Gordon Brown - has appeared on American TV channels to warn against repeating the experience of the NHS.

Mr Hannan used a speech in Washington to claim that the service was a "Marxist system" and warned Americans to "ponder our example and tremble". He also told Fox News that "you would much rather fall ill in the US". Writing on his blog today, Mr Hannan defended his remarks, pointing out that he wanted to "replace the current government monopoly in healthcare with a Singapore-style system of personal health accounts".

He disagreed with David Cameron over his refusal to radically reform the NHS.

"It seems increasingly obvious that American voters are turning against Barack Obama's plans...British-style state-administered hospitals - that plainly ain't gonna happen. Which raises the intriguing question of whether Britain would establish the NHS today," he wrote.

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott said Mr Hannan's remarks showed "the mask is slipping and Dan Hannan is the true face of 'caring Conservatism'."