PEOPLE will die if Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s secret plan for slower 999 response times is introduced, emergency workers warned yesterday.

The minister desperately tried to distance himself from a leak tying him to a plot to relax NHS England targets in January.

These would fall from eight to 19 minutes for “Red 2” cases deemed “serious but not the most life-threatening,” including strokes and seizures.

Ambulance workers’ union GMB official Tony Hughes branded the plan a deadly pre-election stunt.

“The proposals are clearly motivated in the run-up to the general election so that the Tories can show that the ambulance services are meeting their targets.

“If these plans go ahead we will see people die more often.”

Documents bearing Mr Hunt’s stamp of approval suggest that the Tory agreed on December 15 to slacken Red 2 ambulance response times following talks with an inner circle of health bureaucrats.

The plans would not affect so-called “Red 1” calls, such as heart attacks and choking.

In an attempt to head off mounting anger a Department of Health spokesman claimed that “no decisions have been made.”

He added: “The Secretary of State would only agree changes that improve response times for urgent cases.”

It was unclear which type of calls the department deemed “urgent.”

Mr Hunt himself said he “categorically refutes” the suggestion that there was a plan to “double ambulance waiting times.”

But neither denied the existence of plans to loosen official targets for many serious cases.

The leak comes amid mounting concerns over lengthening waits for emergency care amid slashed funding, staff shortages and huge A&E backlogs linked to the cuts to GPs, social and community care.

Lower response targets would offer some financial relief to ambulance chiefs who face millions in fines for busting them.

Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham accused Mr Hunt of keeping “MPs and the public in the dark” on the plans.

“Patients are already waiting hours on end for ambulances to arrive,” said Mr Burnham.

“People will struggle to understand how, in the middle of a crisis, it makes sense for the government to make a panic decision to relax 999 standards and leave patients waiting even longer.”