I know how sacred the NHS is to the people of Britain; everyone is frightened that it will be taken away. But the cost of that fear is that the political classes are terrified of even criticising it. The standard of debate about the NHS on programmes such as Question Time is risible. No one — whether Tory, Labour or Liberal Democrat — will have anything but praise for the doctors and nurses of the NHS. Then they get a round of applause and that is it. It is as if you cannot support something and criticise it at the same time. I have now had three near-death experiences — cancer, an accident and a plane crash — and I’ve seen the best and worst of the NHS. I am better qualified to criticise and defend our health care system than most politicians.