AT long last this Government has cast aside the timidity which stood in the way of raising the standards of our National Health Service.

Over the past four years we have had fine words from Labour ministers pledging their allegiance to the principles of the NHS and their commitment to reform.

But they have been unable, until now, to summon the courage to state what has been blindingly obvious. That, without a sustained period of substantial investment, the NHS has no chance of catching up to the level of care and treatment provided elsewhere in Europe.

The general public arrived at that inevitable conclusion some time ago. Labour, armed with the knowledge that it had never before won successive full terms in office and mindful that a party promising to spend more and raise taxes rarely wins elections, was reluctant to embrace the notion.

It is a pity that, while the public believed extra taxation was a price worth paying for shorter waiting lists and better treatment, the Government was not prepared to risk the electoral price.

But with a second term safely secured with a thumping Commons majority, Labour has now come clean.

Belated as it is, we welcome Labour's commitment to the cause.

From the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement we now appear to have from the Government an unequivocal belief in a publicly-fund health service free at the point of need on the basis of clinical requirements, and not on the ability to pay.

We have a clear promise that a greater proportion of the national income will have to be spend on the NHS in future.

And if that means increased taxes, then so be it.

It was unrealistic to expect the NHS to deliver improvements with a piecemeal investment strategy determined from one annual spending review to the next.

What was required is a commitment for a generation, to repair the damage inflicted by years of under-investment.

Improvements will not happen overnight. Not when it takes three years to train nurses, or up to 15 years to train GPs and consultants.

But if there are tangible improvements to be seen, the British public will tolerate the additional tax burden.