An MP has said the NHS will go from “strength to strength” following the Government’s pledge to provide extra funding.

Last week the Conservatives introduced an NHS Funding Bill to parliament in order to place a legal duty on the Government, ensuring the NHS receives an extra £33.9 billion every year by 2023-24.

Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said the move showed his party’s commitment to “deliver on the priorities of the British people”.

He said: “It was clear during the election campaign in Finchley and Golders Green, that the NHS was a key priority of my constituents. This funding commitment goes a long way to ensuring that the people’s priorities are met by the Government.

“The NHS is our most important service, and with these new commitments it will go from strength to strength.”

The cash boost the NHS is set to receive will be the biggest in the NHS’ history and brings the total annual budget to £150 billion within five years.

But Jonathan Ashworth, Labour shadow health and social care secretary, said the bill will legally cap NHS expenditure for the next four years at a level that “fails to tackle the crisis of growing waiting lists for surgery, cancer treatment or mental health care – or deal with overcrowded A&Es”.

He added: “If Tory MPs were genuinely committed to the NHS they would vote for our amendment to the Queen Speech on Thursday calling for an annual increase in overall health spending of at least 4 per cent a year, alongside a costed long term plan for social care.

“Instead Boris Johnson is ordering his MPs to vote for this capped expenditure bill guaranteeing in law that the NHS won’t get the resources it needs for the remainder of this Parliament.”

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “there can be no doubting” the Conservative commitment to the NHS.

He added: “The Funding Bill will place a legal duty on the Health Secretary to guarantee a minimum level of spending every year, rising to £148.5 billion by 2023/24.

“In the first stage of this historic annual increase, the Government has already injected an extra £6.2 billion since April 2019, following the launch of the Long-Term Plan in January 2019.

“Crucially, this new Bill will not seek to limit the NHS in deciding how funding is spent and where – a decision that is rightly made by local clinicians for their local populations.”