Party leaders clash during PMQs over ‘terrifying’ NHS strike walkouts
The PM confirmed for the first time he had used private healthcare.
Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have clashed in the Commons over the NHS strikes, with the prime minister claiming patients ‘were terrified’ after ambulance drivers walked out.
During prime minister’s questions, Mr Sunak accused the Labour leader of backing the strike and opposing a plan to require a minimum service level during public sector walkouts ‘because he is on the side of his union paymasters’.
He added: ‘What’s terrifying people right now is not knowing, when they call 999, whether they will get the treatment they need. Patients should be able to rely on a basic level of lifesaving care.’
Sir Keir replied: ‘There is not a minimum level of service any day because the government have broken the NHS.’
He added there would be no industrial action if the PM had agreed to negotiate and warned that ministers’ anti-strike plan would only increase walk-outs.
‘They have gone from clapping the nurses to sacking the nurses,’ he said.
Sir Keir also criticised growing delays for cancer referrals and said hospital waiting lists had doubled under the Conservatives.
Meanwhile, the PM confirmed for the first time he had used private healthcare but said he was now registered with an NHS GP.
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