The Conservatives have accused the Labour government of creating a “teenage timebomb”, presiding over a deterioration of teenage health that has seen the number of young people admitted to hospital annually rise by 23% since 2000.

Using government statistics, the Tories issued a dossier showing that on six counts teenage health had got “steadily worse” since 2000, with the deterioration even more marked among early teens.

Rehearsing the party’s central theme that the fabric of British society needs fundamental reform, the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said the figures were a “sad indictment of our broken society”.

The Tories also say that admission to hospitals for alcohol abuse had increased by 51% to nearly 12,700 a year and admission to hospitals on smoking related illnesses had increased by 41% to 16,200 a year, though this had increased by 63% among 11- to 15-year-olds.

They also made other claims; however we have to be careful of this latest spin from the Cameron Spin Doctors. We must remember that is was the Tories who also failed us for 13 disastrous years. They failed with the NHS, closed post offices, sold off school playing fields, failed with our education system, squeezed local government, and public services.