William Hague claims expenses for organising protest meeting against Tory NHS cuts he voted for

‘William Hague claimed hundreds of pounds on expenses to fund a protest meeting – to fight his own Government’s NHS reforms.

The Cabinet minister was accused of hypocrisy for campaigning against hated health service cuts in his constituency, while backing the Coalition’s changes in Westminster.

The millionaire Tory claimed £264.76 on expenses to pay for adverts in his local paper to advertise the NHS protest gathering he organised in January.

He claimed a further £77.50 to hire the town hall.

At the meeting he voiced “acute concern” over proposed NHS changes and promised to take complaints “to the very top”.

But records show in Westminster he has voted in favour of all the Coalition’s healthcare reforms.

Labour’s Grahame Morris, a member of the Commons health select committee, blasted: “It sounds like Count Dracula complaining about a robbery at a blood bank.

“Hague has been a major player in a Government that – without any mandate from the electorate – has introduced the biggest top-down organisation in the history of the NHS.”

Mr Hague was first criticised in 2012 for joining a march against NHS cuts in his constituency after backing reforms.’