SENIOR Scottish Conservatives are being urged to explain whether they support a Tory colleague who claimed the Government should have “nothing to do” with the NHS.

On Wednesday, Tory welfare spokesperson Michelle Ballantyne suggested to MSPs that she supports the privatisation of the NHS, stating at Holyrood: “As somebody who has spent a lot of time in the NHS I would be quite happy if Government had nothing to do with the running of the NHS.”

Now the SNP have challenged Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw and health spokesperson Miles Briggs to state if they agree with the sentiments of Ballantyne’s comments.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon slams Tory MSPs for laughing during medicine shortages question

Ballantyne, who is the Tories’ spokesperson on social security, has previously been criticised for claiming that “people on benefits cannot have as many children as they like” and that “there’s no such thing as a bedroom tax”.

Commenting, Emma Harper MSP said: “The Tories have a duty to address these astonishing comments from one of their senior MSPs.

“Michelle Ballantyne sits on the Tories front bench as one of their senior spokespeople. We can only assume that she’s speaking on behalf of the party.

“If that is the case, then it is an astonishing admission that the Tories want to impose the same disastrous reforms on the Scottish NHS as their colleagues have done in England.

“The public rightly expect Scottish Government ministers to be accountable for the NHS – we can only guess what the Tories would put in place instead.

READ MORE: FMQs Sketch: Nicola Sturgeon sends Tories to charm school

“In England the Tories have waved through privatisation of the health service, forcing ordinary people to pay the price for effective care.

“An SNP Government will never allow for this to happen in Scotland.”