I suppose we have to think of context - the 1942 Beveridge Report set the scene - many historians would argue that Tory ambivalence to the report helped cause the surprise Tory defeat after the war.
Those Physicians took the line that the NHS was a ‘National Socialist’ experiment and something akin to what Hitler might have thought up - one BMA chairman referred to a *“medical fuhrer.” if the NHS bill was made law, I know it sounds silly in 2022
Whether Churchill did actually say the quote often ascribed to him I don’t know - but I do know the words of the Tory amendment to the bill:
. discourages voluntary effort and association; mutilates the structure of local government; dangerously increases ministerial power and patronage; appropriates trust funds and benefactions in contempt of the wishes of donors and subscribers; and undermines the freedom and independence of the medical profession to the detriment of the nation
It’s possible to see why Churchill disliked the bill - he saw it as Authoritarian in nature - something he had fought against in a life or death battle the previous years.
History is a fascinating subject and something I can spend hours reading and listening to - wonder will generations to come find our present times quite as interesting?
