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26 May 2011
Last updated at 14:40 ET
Conservative MPs are organising to oppose changes that Nick Clegg wants to make to the government health overhaul in England, the BBC has learned.
One MP, Nick de Bois, who sits on the parliamentary committee looking at the NHS bill, has set out a series of "red lines" from which he says his fellow Tories should not retreat.
Some of them appear to clash directly with proposals from the deputy PM.
The NHS bill is currently on hold while ministers consider objections to it.
In an e-mail sent to all Conservative MPs and obtained by the BBC, Mr de Bois says there has been talk of "concerning change" to the Health and Social Care Bill from "our coalition partners" - the Lib Dems.
He says critics of the bill have so far "made their voices the loudest", and calls on his fellow Tories to set out their own red lines - "the principles on which we will not budge".
"I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool," he says.
He tells MPs the red lines should include:
Mr de Bois, whose views on the NHS are said to be representative of those of a number of his colleagues, also says Conservatives should insist upon competition within the NHS in order to drive up standards, and push for the creation of an independent regulator, Monitor, "to ensure that patients' choices are not being restricted".
'Not thought through' Mr Clegg said earlier this month he would oppose any regulator which promoted competition, and insisted that Monitor's focus should be on collaboration.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said that "sticking with the status quo" on health is "simply not a serious option".
But he has promised "never to take risks" with the health service's core principles and to listen to those who have concerns about the proposed changes.
Labour have questioned whether the proposed legislation in its original form can continue, calling it "expensive, bureaucratic, and it is not properly thought through".
Mr Clegg said on Thursday he thought the bill should be sent back to MPs to reconsider.
Redoing the committee stage could delay the timetable of reforms scheduled for 2012 and potentially risk the billions of pounds of savings that have to be made by the NHS by 2014.
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One MP, Nick de Bois, who sits on the parliamentary committee looking at the NHS bill, has set out a series of "red lines" from which he says his fellow Tories should not retreat.
Some of them appear to clash directly with proposals from the deputy PM.
The NHS bill is currently on hold while ministers consider objections to it.
In an e-mail sent to all Conservative MPs and obtained by the BBC, Mr de Bois says there has been talk of "concerning change" to the Health and Social Care Bill from "our coalition partners" - the Lib Dems.
He says critics of the bill have so far "made their voices the loudest", and calls on his fellow Tories to set out their own red lines - "the principles on which we will not budge".
"I am determined that we reclaim the debate over the future of the National Health Service from those who seek to use the bill as a political tool," he says.
He tells MPs the red lines should include:
- The declaration that any qualified provider, including private companies and charities, should be able to provide care. Mr de Bois said: "Government should do nothing that stands in their way", but Mr Clegg said earlier on Thursday there would be "no sudden, top-down opening up of all NHS services to any qualified provider"
- A clear date - April 2013 - "when statutory responsibility must transfer from the top-down bureaucracy to GP consortia". Mr de Bois said this was "a very reasonable period of time", but Mr Clegg said there should be "no arbitrary deadline"
- The requirement for all GPs to take on these new responsibilities, right across England. Mr de Bois said "there must be no two-tier NHS", but Mr Clegg said this change should be introduced in a "planned, phased way"
Mr de Bois, whose views on the NHS are said to be representative of those of a number of his colleagues, also says Conservatives should insist upon competition within the NHS in order to drive up standards, and push for the creation of an independent regulator, Monitor, "to ensure that patients' choices are not being restricted".
'Not thought through' Mr Clegg said earlier this month he would oppose any regulator which promoted competition, and insisted that Monitor's focus should be on collaboration.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said that "sticking with the status quo" on health is "simply not a serious option".
But he has promised "never to take risks" with the health service's core principles and to listen to those who have concerns about the proposed changes.
Labour have questioned whether the proposed legislation in its original form can continue, calling it "expensive, bureaucratic, and it is not properly thought through".
Mr Clegg said on Thursday he thought the bill should be sent back to MPs to reconsider.
Redoing the committee stage could delay the timetable of reforms scheduled for 2012 and potentially risk the billions of pounds of savings that have to be made by the NHS by 2014.
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