With the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison’s originally planned strike action expected to start on Thursday, Starmer nailed Sunak for the government’s refusal to discuss a more generous potential pay offer, which the RCN had said would mean cessation of strikes. . “Tomorrow will be the first nationwide strike by nurses,” said the Labor leader in the Commons. “All the prime minister has to do to stop this is to open the door and discuss pay with them. If he did, the whole country would breathe a sigh of relief. Why doesn’t he?’ Sunak said ministers were “steadily talking to all the unions involved in all the pay disputes” and that the 3% rise amid a public sector pay freeze last year showed they “continue to support our nurses”. Starmer replied: “Nurses on strike are a disgrace to this government. Instead of showing a leadership role, he plays games with people’s health. And there is a human cost.” Citing the example of a boy in Chester called Alex who remains out of school and is in pain because an operation was canceled twice, Starmer said Alex’s mother had been “massively relieved” when the RCN proposed to end the strike and was “desperate for the Prime Minister to solve this.” Starmer continued: “She doesn’t want to hear him blame other people. He doesn’t want his usual self to pop the question. She is tuned in now because she wants to explain to him: what will she do to solve the nurses’ strike?’ Sunak responded by dodging the question, accusing Starmer of concocting “a political formula to avoid taking a stand on this issue”. The Labor leader “wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the unions”, the prime minister added. Starmer replied: “Action speaks volumes. As always with this prime minister, it’s Tory policy first, patients second. We have never seen a nurse strike like this before. They were forced to do it because the government has broken the health system.” ‘We can’t afford not to’: firefighter, paramedic, train driver and teacher strike in UK – video In a repeat of recent attacks on Sunak’s wealth, Starmer asked him why he would not end the UK’s foreign national tax regime – as used by Sunak’s wife – and noted that most people could not afford appointments in same day private doctor, which Sunak uses. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Starmer said: “After 12 years of Tory failure, winter has arrived for our public services. And we have a prime minister who has curled up in a ball and gone into hibernation. “If he can’t act on behalf of the patients, or the nurses or anyone who wants to stop these strikes, then surely the whole country is entitled to ask: what’s the point and what’s the point of the government you’re supposed to be leading?” Repeating a tactic he used at last week’s PMQs, Starmer denied Sunak any chance of ending the pair’s exchanges with a rousing partisan attack using his final question to focus on a deeply serious matter. While last week Starmer asked about the Strep A outbreak among children, this time he praised Commons staff and asked Sunak to join him in thinking about people in Ukraine living without electricity and heat amid Russian invasion.
