PMQs – live: Starmer accuses Tories of going from ‘clapping nurses to sacking them’
Two party leaders face off against backdrop of industrial action by public sector workers
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Your support makes all the difference.Keir Starmer has said the government has gone from “clapping nurses to sacking them” in the first session of PMQs this year as health worker strikes dominate the opening exchanges between him and Rishi Sunak.
The prime minister and Labour leader go head-to-head as some 20,000 ambulance staff strike for the second time in a row over pay and conditions.
On Tuesday the government introduced a bill to parliament that aims to enforce “minimum services levels” in future industrial action.
Grant Shapps, the business secretary who brought the bill to the Commons, was accused of an “outrageous slur” after suggesting striking ambulance workers were “putting lives at risk”.
Elsewhere, Mr Sunak was scheduled to meet with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Wednesday to sign a defence pact between the two countries aimed at countering the threat of China in the Asia-Pacific region.
“In this increasingly competitive world, it is more important than ever that democratic societies continue to stand shoulder to shoulder as we navigate the unprecedented global challenges of our time,” Mr Sunak said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
Rishi Sunak admits he has used private healthcare
Rishi Sunak has finally admitted to using private healthcare after his repeated refusal to answer questions about reports he has used a private GP.
The prime minister said he had used “independent” health care outside of the NHS during a feisty PMQs exchange in the Commons.
“I am registered with a NHS GP,” Mr Sunak said, before adding: “I have used independent health care in the past.”
My colleague Adam Forrest reports:
Rishi Sunak admits he has used private healthcare
PM says he used ‘independent’ health care as he clashes with Labour leader in Commons
Sunak: We’ve always been clear on strikes
Sunak says he has always been clear that his government wants to have constrictive talks with unions.
He says that is why ministers have accepted “in full” the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies.
Sunak says Starmer “doesn’t have a policy” on strikes, and asks him why he does not support the government’s “minimum service level” bill introduced to parliament yesterday.
He says it is because Starmer is on the sid of his “union pay masters”.
‘Why do patients always wait longer under the Tories?'
Starmer points out that a number of Sunak’s own MPs oppose the bill, which could see some workers sacked for striking.
Ministers have said they hope it doesn’t come to that.
The Labour leader says “you can’t legislate your way out of 13 years of failure”, referencing NHS waiting lists - which were a problem before Covid.
“Why do patients always wait longer under the Tories?” Starmer asks Sunak.
‘This shouldn’t be controversial'
Sunak responds saying no one denies unions’ freedom to strike but that the public must remain safe during industrial action.
“This shouldn’t be controversial,” he says. He adds that many countries around Europe have similar legislation.
“Normally he’s in favour of more European aligment...why not now Mr speaker?” Sunak adds.
Starmer presses Sunak on waiting lists
Sir Keir Starmer said: “He can’t tell us how much he will reduce waiting lists by or when. So much for the accountability that he wants.
“As ever with this Prime Minister, you scratch the surface and you find there is nothing there.
“Last month, 1.4 million people waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment. When Labour left government you were guaranteed an appointment in two days. When does the Prime Minister expect to get back to that?”
Rishi Sunak replied: “When it comes to waiting lists we have already eliminated two-year wait lists – done last year. We are on track this spring to eliminate those waiting 18 months, with a clear plan to go further to eliminate those waiting 52 weeks by next spring.”
The Prime Minister said NHS waiting lists were one of his five priorities, adding: “What are his? They seem to change every single week. First he was against NHS outsourcing, now he is apparently in favour of it.”
He described Sir Keir as “inconsistent” and “unprincipled”.
Cancer waiting lists
Sir Keir Starmer has asked Rishi Sunak when cancer patients will “once again get the certainty of quick care that they got under Labour”.
He said: “He can’t tell us how much he will reduce waiting lists by or when. So much for the accountability that he wants.
“As ever with this Prime Minister, you scratch the surface and you find there is nothing there.
“Last month, 1.4 million people waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment. When Labour left government you were guaranteed an appointment in two days. When does the prime minister expect to get back to that?”
‘No understanding of the situation'
Replying to Starmer’s question about cancer waiting lists, Sunak says: “Why is there a challenge with cancer times right now?
“It’s just … absolutely no understanding of the situation.
“What happened to cancer referrals during Covid? They went down by almost two-thirds. That was because of a pandemic that they went down. And, by the way, if we had stayed and listened to him, we’d still be in lockdown.”
‘So much for accountability'
After Sunak dodges questions on waiting lists, Starmer says the PM can’t tell us “how much he will reduce waiting lists by or when”.
“So much for accountability”, the Labour leader adds.
The PM responds by saying the government has already eliminated two-year waiting lists.
The NHS constitution says no patient should wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to treatment.
‘Petty politics'
Rishi Sunak has said the Labour leader is focused on “petty politics” while he is “delivering for Britain”.
His comments came after Sir Keir Starmer said: “He’s not promising that cancer patients will get urgent treatment as they did under Labour. He’s not even promising an NHS that puts patients first like they did under Labour. No, he’s promising the one day, although he can’t say when, the record high waiting lists will stop growing. That’s it.
“After 13 years in Government, what does it say that the best they can offer is that at some point they might stop making things worse?”
The Prime Minister replied: “When it comes to the NHS, it’s crystal clear: the Conservatives on the side of patients, Labour on the side of their union paymasters.
“All he does is flip from one thing to another, and that’s the difference between him and me. He’s focused on petty politics, I’m delivering for Britain.”
Shapps’s statement on strikes has inflamed relations - union official
Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton has said Grant Shapps’s statement about anti-strike legislation will “inflame” industrial relations – and talk of minimum NHS staffing levels is being used to “demonise” health workers.
Ms Gorton said Unison and other unions have been wanting to talk with ministers for more than a decade about putting minimum legal staffing requirements in place without success.
The government’s new-found focus on the issue appears to be an attempt to vilify health workers and a “distraction from the job in hand”, she said.
Speaking at a picket line outside London Ambulance Service (LAS) headquarters in Waterloo, central London, she said: “Resolving disputes and agreeing settlements requires good industrial relations.
“That becomes more strained when you start a lot of anti-trade union rhetoric going on. The conversation that Grant Shapps’ led yesterday will inflame conversations across the whole of the employment piece.
“But I think what will really grate with health workers is that Unison and other trade unions have been wanting to talk to Government for over a decade about putting minimum legal staffing levels in place in the health service.”
Speaking in the Commons yesterday while introducing the bill to parliament, Mr Shapps accused ambulance workers of putting patinets’ lives at risk.
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