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.
