Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected calls from Labour to scrap the government’s “reckless and needless” reforms to the NHS and to the police.

The government wants to hand more powers over commissioning health services to GPs in England and to replace police authorities in England and Wales with elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs).

But at question time on 7 September 2011, Mr Miliband described both plans as “disruptive and dangerous”.

He said that the police reforms would result in the “waste” of 42 politicians being paid salaries of more than £120,000 when police budget cuts would result in a reduction in the number of police officers of 16,000.

The opposition leader also claimed that the number of people who have had to wait more than six months for an NHS operation has gone up by more than 60% since the government took office.

But Mr Cameron said Labour’s figures were “completely wrong”, noting that the abolition of police authorities will save money.

The PM asked of Mr Miliband: “Why is he frightened of direct elections so that the police will be more accountable?”

He also told MPs that “waiting times for out-patients… have actually fallen since the last election”.

BBC