This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

David Cameron today insisted that the Conservative party stood "full square behind the NHS" as he sought to distance his party from comments made by a Tory MEP who rubbished the British health service in a series of American interviews.

The Conservative leader branded Daniel Hannan's views on the NHS "eccentric" and insisted he did not agree with them.

But senior Labour figures condemned Cameron's failure to discipline the MEP over his remarks.

Peter Mandelson, the first secretary of state – who is standing in for Gordon Brown while the prime minister is on holiday – said it exposed the "two faces" of the Tory party.

"I think people will find it shocking that a Conservative parliamentarian can go to the United States to slag off the NHS," he said. "What we see is the two faces of the Conservative party – the one David Cameron wants everyone to see and believe, and the other one presented by the Conservative parliamentarian."

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott posted a tweet on the microblogging site Twitter stating: "If Cameron supports the NHS so much he must publicly rebuke Hannan for running down Britain's most loved institution."

And Andy Burnham, the health secretary, said Hannan's comments lay "bare the Tories' deep ambivalence towards the NHS".

The MEP toured the United States last week criticising the NHS in a series of TV interviews, saying he "wouldn't wish it on anybody".

Cameron said today: "I don't agree with Daniel Hannan. The Conservative party stands full square behind the NHS ... We back it, we are going to expand it, we have ring-fenced it and said that it will get more money under a Conservative government, and it is our No 1 mission to improve it.

"As I said at the party conference, you can sum up our priorities in three letters: N. H. S. That is as true today as it was then."

Asked about Hannan's remarks, Cameron replied: "He does have some quite eccentric views about some things, and political parties always include some people who don't toe the party line on one issue or another issue. But no one should be in any doubt: the NHS is our No1 priority ... It is one of our greatest national institutions and we want to expand it and improve it."

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said the MEP had done the NHS and Americans a disservice by presenting a "negative and partial view".

Earlier, Cameron sent out a strongly worded email of support for the NHS.

The Conservative leader's message, published on his blog, said that millions of people, including his own family, were grateful for the care they had received by the institution.

Cameron's comments came amid a backlash in the UK over the portrayal of the NHS by rightwingers in America, with Gordon and Sarah Brown joining an online campaign to defend the British system after it was branded "evil and Orwellian" by the Republicans.

Downing Street tweeted: "PM: NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there."

Sarah Brown added her own comment, saying: "#welovetheNHS – more than words can say."

Barack Obama's plans for reforming healthcare have prompted opponents to warn that the changes will "socialise" the system, and could even lead to panels deciding whether the elderly deserve life-saving treatment.

The welovetheNHS campaign was launched by Britons keen to counter the allegations.

Two women have claimed their views have been misrepresented in a bid to discredit the NHS by the Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), which claimed that people were left on lengthy waiting lists and deprived of life-saving denied treatments.

CPR, a free-market campaign group, featured the women's views in a US TV commercial, which said they strongly supported state-funded healthcare.

Kate Spall and Katie Brickell both agreed to appear in a documentary on healthcare reform.

But neither knew that the footage would be used as part of a TV advertising campaign carried on US networks.

Spall, whose mother died of kidney cancer while waiting for treatment in the UK, told the Times: "It has been a bit of a nightmare. It was a real test of my naivety. I am a very trusting person and for me it has been a big lesson. I feel like I was duped."

Although standing by her views, Spall said she was horrified by how the CPR had used her words.

Brickell, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer after being refused a smear test because she was too young, said her words had been "skewed out of proportion" by the CPR.

"My point was not that the NHS shouldn't exist or that it was a bad thing. I think that our health service is not perfect but to get better it needs more public money, not less. I didn't realise it was having such a political impact."

No one from the CPR was available to comment on the allegations.