The Conservative party has a "secret plan to privatise the NHS" in England, Labour leadership contender Owen Smith has said.

The Labour leadership contender said NHS spending on private healthcare providers in England has doubled over the past six years to £8.7bn.

In a speech to party activists, the Welsh MP claimed Jeremy Hunt had been given "the green light to start privatising our health service" by Prime Minister Theresa May.

He added: "Within days of his reappointment as health secretary he had officials drawing up secret plans to privatise the NHS."

The department for health rejected Smith's claims of the forthcoming privatisation.

A spokesman said: "This analysis is simply wrong - this government was the first to ensure that doctors, not politicians, make decisions about who provides care."

Since devolution in 1999, NHS spending in Scotland on private providers has more than doubled from £33.2m to £75.9m.

The issue of future NHS privatisation in England was a topic of debate during the closing weeks of the 2014 independence referendum.

Yes campaigners argued that less government spending on the NHS in England would lead to cuts to Scotland's budget through the Barnett funding formula.