A few years ago I saw an interesting article which actually said that we could stop paying NI and use the money in private healthcare instead and we would get a better and cheaper service than the overall cost of the NHS because the huge management overhead would be stripped away and many of the facilities not required full time only 'as and when' (similar to ACC in New Zealand).
The problem being that if you relied on individuals to make contributions they just wouldn't do it, so they would have to be deducted at source and the argument over taxation and stealth tax would rage all over again.
Also the Government sees NI as part of the overall Tax revenue and doesn't want it 'ring fenced' to one particular area as at the moment they use it to fund all sorts of nefarious ideas rather than allocating it to Healthcare and Pensions as it should be.
No one seems interested in the user or the end game, only the political capital that can be gained from statistics and personal attacks........ if Labour succeed tomorrow then we won't see any benefit for a long time (if ever) and ultimately a huge cost dumped on us in the longer term. If the Tories get in then you won't see any benefit for a long time (if at all), probably further reductions and no increased cost in the long term (still nothing passed on to the taxpayer or patients).
re: Frank Field - absolutely. Not the first time I've seen that scenario played out.
<rant on>The root question is what sort of society do we want ??, a higher taxation regime but where we have good solid public services and infrastructure (and quality of life for many), or a low tax regime where Public services and infrastructure is done on the cheap and you are OK if you have a bit of spare cash to pay and fill the gap for yourself ??, if you have no spare cash you have to wait in the queue ?
I'm lucky, I could pay another couple of pence in income tax on the £ and it wouldn't hit me terribly hard, most people could probably afford another penny but if we went down that route the cash would have to be spent properly (wisely ?) - and that is where the system fails - every time.
A referendum on this issue would be much more satisfying than a BREXIT one..............not that it'll ever happen of course. And the risk with this approach is that most people don't see Defence as a high priority, probably it would see a massive reduction, because most people don't see the big Defence picture. Money on Defence is not just Tanks and Aircraft but is jobs. Building, Planning and supporting the platforms, earnings from foreign sales, local jobs on local facilities and the 'onward spend' in the local area (shops and amenities being one key area).
The reality is that everyone wants everything and they want it NOW, but they don't want to pay for it in Tax rises.
The two are just not compatible. <rant off>
Arc