Labour members question Keir Starmer donor’s multi-billion pound stake in private healthcare giant
Previously with Cayman Islands based fund Nevsky capital, Mayfair hedgefunder Martin Taylor is now Keir Starmer’s top donor
- Taylor currently runs Crake Asset Management, who hold a $17billion stake in US private healthcare giant HCA healthcare
- Alongside fellow Starmer donor Sir Clive Hollick, Taylor is one of a handful of donors linked to controversial group “Labour Together” who were recently fined for failing to declare political donations. Both men are major shareholders in Hospital Corporation of America UK (HCA)
The UK healthcare market has long been seen as a potential profit goldmine for private healthcare companies across the world, and it would seem Tory party donors are not the only group with their eyes on Britain’s NHS. Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting recently announced a Starmer fronted government wouldn’t hesitate to expand private influence in the NHS under the guise of cutting waiting times, and it’s clear donors like Taylor would want to get their money’s worth from the British taxpayer.
The NHS operates as one of the most efficient and cost-effective health services in the industrialised world, boasting substantially lower costs than other advanced European countries such as France, Germany, Sweden or Switzerland. The Germans (who have a far larger private sector influence) spend 30% more per person on health care than the UK. And since 2010 the NHS has been increasing its productivity faster than the rest of the UK economy.
Keir Starmer’s positioning, while popular with his donors, is unlikely to be popular with the British public who have a strong support for common ownership of public services. Private healthcare giants stand to make a fortune from the British taxpayer if further NHS privatisation takes place, and it raises the question, given the cost-efficiency of the NHS, is Keir Starmer placing the interests of his donors ahead of those of the public?
Following the Tory party’s much criticised “Health and Care” bill, which is said to open the door to further privatisation, it’s clear the titanic opportunity for profit has led to donors tempting politicians in both of Britain’s major political parties.
Protecting the NHS was a key proponent of the former leader’s 2019 manifesto so this move represents a stark change of direction in rhetoric — it again becomes clear that the Labour Party is under new management.
