Dear American right-wing media, ‘socialism’ isn’t to blame for the NHS crisis. Austerity is.

Britain’s National Health Service is in crisis.

The publicly-funded healthcare system, which has been part-and-parcel of British life since its foundation in 1948, has faced its worst winter crisis in more than 30 years. A combination of a severe flu outbreak, cold weather, an aging population, and high levels of respiratory disease has left the system near breaking point.

Patients have spoken of 12-hour waits at emergency rooms, ambulances have been left queuing outsid...