UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have made a fresh set of pledges as they vie for the Conservative Party leadership and the office of prime minister.
According to BBC, Sunak outlined plans to introduce fines for patients who repeatedly do not show up for their hospital or GP appointments.
"If we have people who are now showing up and taking those slots away from people who need it, that's not right,” he said. "I'm all for a healthcare system that's free at the point of use, but not one that's free at the point of misuse."
Under Sunak’s proposed policy, patients would be given the “benefit of the doubt” the first time they miss an appointment, and each subsequent no-show would result in a £10 fine.
Although Sunak provided few details about this scheme, he reportedly mentioned that this would be a temporary arrangement until backlogs created by the COVID-19 pandemic are cleared.
As the media outlet points out, NHS waiting lists in England as of February consisted of six million people - roughly 10 percent of the country.
The former chancellor also expressed a desire to deal with graffiti and littering, and to decrease the number of empty shops by 2025 to “make sure that they are turned into thriving local assets, supporting skills, local businesses, economies and creating jobs."
For her part, Truss unveiled a series of proposals for education, including a policy that would see the highest-achieving students automatically receiving invitations to apply to top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.
The media outlet points out that little is known about how this policy would work in practice.
Truss also reportedly said she wants to extend the existing high-performing academy schools and to replace failing ones with free schools.
After UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on 7 July, an intense contest for the Conservative Party leadership ensued among top members of the party.
Sunak and Truss now stand as the final candidates for the position of the Tory leader and UK prime minister, with the winner of this contest due to be announced on 5 September.