Starmer condemns junior doctors’ strikes in week of general election

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned junior doctors’ strikes set for the week of the general election, revealing that he told unions not to go ahead.

The Labour leader said most doctors did not want the walkout to happen, and that it will have an impact on patients waiting for “much-needed” treatment.

His comments came after Victoria Atkins, the Health Secretary, told Labour to “finally condemn junior doctor strikes”.

The British Medical Association (BMA) called for a five-day walkout from 7am on June 27 to 7am on July 2 after the Government failed to make a “credible offer”. It means doctors will be on strike days before the general election takes place on July 4.

The announcement was made as Sir Keir held a question and answer session with student nurses and medics at the University of Worcester on Wednesday.

Asked afterwards whether he would directly condemn the strikes, he said: “I don’t want the strikes to go ahead, and I’ll be very clear about that.

“And we’ve said that to the doctors themselves – I’m not saying it to you and not to them. We don’t want the strike to go ahead. I don’t think the doctors do. It certainly doesn’t help any of their patients, who are desperately waiting for appointments and operations that are much needed.”

Sir Keir criticised the Government, saying it was “shocking” that the dispute had not been resolved and accusing ministers of “effectively kicking it to the other side of the general election”.

Ms Atkins described the junior doctors’ decision as a “highly cynical tactic”, adding: “This Conservative Government has taken the tough decisions to keep public spending down to bear down on inflation, which is now back to normal.

“Labour would be in the hands of their union paymasters, meaning more spending and higher taxes.”

The BMA’s junior doctors’ committee said it had been in talks with the Government for the last three months over a deal and gave it “a final opportunity to make an offer and avoid strikes”. In a statement, it added: “Rishi Sunak continues to refuse to meet junior doctors’ demands for a roadmap to restore pay.”

Talks have broken down despite both parties confirming they had brought in a mediator to try and “break the logjam” last month. Junior doctors are demanding a 35 per cent pay rise to take effect over several years and first walked out in March last year.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, the BMA junior doctors’ committee co-chairmen, said they had “made clear” they would strike unless there was a “credible pay offer”.

They said: “For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years – equal to more than a quarter in real terms.”

“When we entered mediation with the Government this month, we did so under the impression that we had a functioning Government that would soon be making an offer. Clearly no offer is now forthcoming. Junior doctors are fed up and out of patience.”

Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, said it was “a worrying escalation in the long dispute” and “will inevitably hit patients hard”.

Sir Keir and Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, set out their plans to tackle the NHS backlog at an event in the West Midlands.

On Wednesday morning, Mr Streeting saidit would be a “journey” to restoring pay, telling the BBC’s Today Programme: “That 35 per cent claim is not one I would be able to meet on July 5. I would be willing to sit down and negotiate because the journey back to fair pay is exactly that. A journey not an event.”

If the next round of walkouts goes ahead, it will mean the doctors in training have been on strike for a total of 44 days over 16 months.