Kemi says Tories would ban doctors' strikes after Streeting accuses medics of trying to 'fleece' the public with £30bn pay demand
Kemi Badenoch has called on ministers to ban doctors from striking as she accused them of 'betraying patients' with another round of walkouts.Writing for the Daily Mail, the Conservative leader says the medics' jobs are so critical she would subject them to the same restrictions as police and the military.It comes as Wes Streeting accused the British Medical Association of trying to 'fleece' the public with pay demands that could cost taxpayers £30billion a year.The health secretary admitted the six-day strike, which started at 7am today, will leave some patients 'waiting in pain or anxiety longer than is necessary' as appointments are cancelled.Resident doctors - previously known as junior doctors - have already cost NHS hospitals £3billion in lost activity and overtime payments to covering colleagues since 2023.But Mr Streeting warned it would cost 10 times more every year if he caved into their 'unreasonable' demands as every other NHS worker would expect the same.The doctors have now taken to picket lines on 60 days across 15 rounds of strikes, with each day burning through £50million of NHS funds.The total spent to date could have built a 'few' hospitals or delivered millions of appointments, slashing NHS waiting lists faster, the Labour leadership hopeful said. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said doctors' jobs are so critical she would subject them to the same restrictions as police and the military The BMA is pursuing a 26 per cent pay rise on top of the 28.9 per cent resident doctors have received over the past three years.The union says this would cost around £3billion a year.But Mr Streeting told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'Let's then assume that other NHS staff would understandably demand the same, then that cost would be more like £30billion a year.'That is more than the entire cost of the Ministry of Justice's entire budget for running the criminal justice system.'New YouGov polling, conducted on Tuesday, found a growing number of British adults are opposed to resident doctors going on strike with the number climbing from 33 per cent in April 2023 and 53 per cent in March this year to 55 per cent now.Some 37 per cent said they currently support the action, according to the survey of 4,385 adults in Great Britain.Mrs Badenoch, whose father was a GP, said Labour had caved in too easily with previous pay demands and given doctors more money 'with no strings attached'.She added: 'The Conservatives have had enough. If the BMA refuses to act reasonably, the government must step in to ensure the safety of patients. The strikes will last six days - one of the longest the NHS has faced - and is over disputes over pay and job opportunities Tens of thousands of resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - have joined picket lines in today's strikes (pictured). Doctors' strikes have cost the NHS £3billion in the last three years'That's why I will ban resident doctors and consultants from going on strike – as we already do for the Police and Armed Forces.'We will reintroduce Minimum Service Levels across the NHS, so that patients know the NHS will always be there when they need it.'The BMA's resident doctors committee last month rejected a deal that would have taken medics' pay rises over the past three years to 35 per cent and created thousands of new speciality training places that would have allowed members to further their careers.If they had accepted, some would have been earning more than £100,000 a year, while those in their first year out of medical school would have started on an average of £52,000 a year.Mr Streeting said it was hypocritical of the BMA to be striking in the face of such an offer while giving their own staff a rise of 2.75 per cent 'on affordability grounds'.He told BBC Breakfast: 'Why does the BMA think they can get away with telling their own staff they only get 2.75 per cent because that's all they can afford, whilst rejecting a 4.9 per cent offer because that's all the Government can afford.'It seems to me, the BMA aren't willing to put their hands in their own pockets to pay their own staff, but they're very happy to try and fleece your viewers, asking them to pay even more in tax than I think this country can afford.'NHS England admitted this week's walkout - the longest so far - will be 'difficult' but stressed services remain open and patients should continue to attend A&E and dial 999 or 111 as usual and attend scheduled appointments unless they are contacted and told otherwise. The BMA is 'intransigent' and unwilling to move on an 'increasingly absurd set of positions', Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) said, after pointing out the BMA had been the biggest winner of government pay increases 'by a country mile'One patient whose appointment has been cancelled told BBC News he was 'very worried' as a result.Adrian Emery, 55, from Nottinghamshire, was due to have a telephone appointment on Tuesday after having a number of mini strokes.His appointment, his first follow-up appointment to review medication and speak to a specialist, was initially rescheduled for mid-June, but that has also been cancelled now, the broadcaster reported.'I'm very worried, because my grandfather actually had a very serious stroke. I hope I don't have a full stroke before I am seen,' he added.Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of BMA's resident doctors committee, said: 'I'm genuinely very sorry and it is regrettable that we're having to take this action and I'm very sorry to patients, however, we feel like we had no choice.'We gave the government several opportunities to avoid it, and they chose not to.' By Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative PartyWe need to ban doctors' strikes.On Tuesday, resident doctors walked out of work for the fifteenth time since 2023 - strike action that has cost the NHS around £3billion in the past three years.I have a great deal of respect for doctors. My father was a GP. I know the sense of pride and value doctors place on serving their patients.That's why I am so frustrated by the actions of the British Medical Association (BMA). This militant union is acting less like a union and more like a cartel. In the process it's betraying the patients its members swore to serve.In government, the Conservatives did our utmost to stem the power of the unions. We passed the Trade Union Act, which included a minimum 50 per cent turnout requirement for balloted strike action.And we introduced minimum service levels, to ensure that public health, education, borders and more always had a minimum service during strikes.Labour have scrapped all the Conservatives' legislation intended to put a break on strikes. Now they are seeing the reality of their Faustian bargain with the unions.Since Keir Starmer walked into 10 Downing Street, the BMA's strike action has cost the NHS £1.2billion, money that could have been used to build two hospitals, or 34 A&E departments.Beyond the financial cost, there is a real cost to patients. Every strike day represents hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations cancelled, leaving patients at home in pain, worried about when their treatment will come.In opposition, Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed the strikes were all the Conservatives' fault and could be avoided by 'treating staff with respect'.One of Labour's first acts was to hand doctors a 22 per cent pay rise with no strings attached. They did similar with the train drivers, shortly before they too went on strike that same year.Streeting is the best Labour minister at self-promotion, but while he's long on style, he's short on substance. He's too busy plotting a march on Downing Street to get to grips with the BMA.The Conservatives have had enough. If the BMA refuses to act reasonably, the government must step in to ensure the safety of patients.That's why I will ban resident doctors and consultants from going on strike – as we already do for the Police and Armed Forces.We will reintroduce Minimum Service Levels across the NHS, so that patients know the NHS will always be there when they need it.This is not anti-doctor, it's pro-patient. My father dedicated his life to his patients, there will be many doctors who agree with me that the BMA are betraying their profession.No government should allow any organisation, however professional its members, to hold patients to ransom.Labour has chosen the unions over patients. The Conservatives choose patients, because only we are serious about getting Britain working again.
