That is what makes the health service potentially the greatest in the world. We are introducing a greater choice for ordinary people from every background”Mr Reid says Tory plans will take £1bn out of the NHS to help “relatively well-off” people who may have gone private anyway. But are his plans to offer choice premature, when there are not enough beds, doctors or nurses to meet demand?Increasing “capacity” is crucial to extending choice, the minister admits, and more cash and tougher targets will ensure waiting times fall further. But polling has shown most patients want the freedom to seek treatment elsewhere if they cannot get the best on their doorstep.”Those on the left who say that choice is a Tory word fail to understand the whole history of the Labour Party,” he says “It is not choice that is wrong. But some are prevented from doing so by that sophisticated rationing system called money,” he says.”The Conservatives are promising greater choice for the minority who have traditionally used the private sector at the expense of the majority. It means your access to healthcare is not decided on the basis of your need but on the basis of the money in your pocket.”Labour’s plans, he says, will guarantee operations and treatment remain free to NHS patients with public funds following them from hospital to hospital.

Last week, the Tory leader, Michael Howard described why “choice” will be a key component of Conservative health policy.The mere hint that Mr Reid is straying into Tory territory infuriates him The seasoned intellectual pugilist prepares his first punch “The Conservatives have talked about freedom to choose We are all free to choose a Rolls-Royce. But the “choice” agenda in public services is already looking crowded. Now his task is to frame the next stage of NHS reforms, and he is about to present a five-year plan which will offer patients a choice between where they attend hospital for treatment, as well as new targets to cut waiting times. He is known as “a bruiser” in parliamentary circles, with a boxer’s physique, matching combativeness, and the intellectual wit to be able to duck and dive his way out of the trickiest debates.The young Reid flirted with Communism and went to university as a mature student, gaining a PHD in economic history on the end of the slave trade in 19th-century Dahomey.A dependable Blair loyalist, he has been shunted around five cabinet jobs in five years. The next stage of NHS changes, to be unveiled this week, will be a vital part of Tony Blair’s general election manifesto and is central to his reform agenda.”I had to come down this morning.

The [cabinet] meeting needed doing,” he said, with a tinge with sadness. He pauses a moment to reflect, his black tie a clue to his recent bereavement “She would have wanted me to do it anyway,” he said “She was a great supporter of the Prime Minister. She has been a fighter all her life.”Being a fighter is a quality Mr Reid clearly inherited from his mother, a former factory worker. Mr Reid was her only son and extremely close.Despite such a grave loss, the minister did not wish to let the Prime Minister down, and took the overnight train from Scotland in time to present the details of his five- year plan for the NHS to the Cabinet. As one of Tony Blair’s most energetic generals he is frequently in demand, rushing between television studios, the Commons dispatch box and hospitals around the country to meet NHS staff.But today there is some surprise within Richmond House, the Department of Health’s scrupulously clean headquarters, that the minister is sticking to his schedule. The night before, his mother Mary died in a Scottish hospital.