Keir Starmer told Rishi Sunak the nurses’ strike was a “badge of shame” for the Government as they clashed at the final PMQs of the year.
The Labour leader told the PM to meet the nurses union and discuss pay to stop tomorrow’s strikes, saying “under the current PM, it’s “Tory politics first, patients second” and said he had “gone into hibernation” over winter crisis facing NHS.
Hitting back, Mr Sunak said the government had offered a fair pay deal to nurses and gave them a three percent pay rise last year when everyone else in the public sector faced freezes.
Mr Sunak is facing renewed pressure over the cost of living, with fresh figures showing that inflation has eased slightly but is still at 10.7 per cent.
He faced questions about a series of walkouts taking place across the economy, including this week’s 48 hour walk-out by the RMT rail union, and Thursday’s historic strike by nurses in England.
Mr Sunak opened proceedings by sharing his “sorrow” at the tragic loss of life in the Channel crossing boat tragedy.
It comes as at least four people died in a boat crossing tragedy in the Channel in the early hours of Wednesday, with the death toll feared to rise. Some 43 people were rescued from the capsized boat, many of whom had plunged into the Channel’s icy waters.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman will make a Commons statement about the incident after Prime Minister’s Questions, at about 12.30pm.
