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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Guardian staff and agencies

Health secretary urges no strikes as ballot of junior doctors begins

A demonstrator holds a placard saying 'Pay restoration for doctors' with Big Ben visible in the blurred background
Protest in London during resident doctors’ 2024 pay campaign. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has urged doctors in England to vote against industrial action as the British Medical Association (BMA) ballots resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, for strike action that could last for six months.

Writing in the Times on Thursday, Streeting said: “We can’t afford to return to a continuous cycle of standoffs, strikes, and cancellations … Strikes should always be a last resort, and I don’t think they are in anyone’s interest today.

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