Health commentator Roy Lilley has warned Wes Streeting has “backed himself into a very difficult corner” in his handling of the junior doctors’ strike, urging the Labour minister to show “more maturity” in negotiations.
Speaking after the British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed strike action would proceed this week, Mr Lilley said the Health Secretary had put himself in a tough position through his public attacks on medics.
The BMA confirmed on Monday that a five-day walkout will commence on Wednesday after members overwhelmingly rejected the Government’s latest proposal.
An online survey of more than 50,000 members saw 83 per cent vote against the offer, with turnout reaching 65 per cent.
The Health Secretary accused the BMA of deliberately timing the walkout to cause maximum harm during the Christmas period, when hospitals are already under severe strain.
“The BMA has chosen Christmas strikes to inflict damage on the NHS at the moment of maximum danger, refusing to postpone them to January to help patients and other NHS staff cope over Christmas,” Mr Streeting said.
Mr Lilley told GB News: “I don’t think they would take any notice of Wes Streeting at all. And are they right to be striking?
“No. I don’t agree with strikes in the public sector, but we have to deal with the situation we are dealing with.
Health commentator Roy Lilley said the health secretary has ‘backed himself into a corner’
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GB NEWS
“Streeting has upped the political ante by saying the NHS is going to collapse like a Jenga tower. I don’t think that’s true at all.
“What has happened is that the flu season has started about a fortnight earlier than it normally does, and there is a particularly virulent strain of flu around this year.
“That’s unusual, but the fact it started earlier means the graph has gone up early. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to peak any higher, we just don’t know that yet.”
The strike comes as the NHS grapples with an unusually early and severe flu season, with cases surging more than 55 per cent in just seven days.
Wes Streeting has accused the BMA of deliberately timing the walkout to cause maximum harm during the Christmas period
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GB NEWSNHS England issued a warning last week that hospitals were confronting their “worst-case scenario” due to the wave of superflu sweeping the country.
The BMA said the strike was “still entirely avoidable” and that it was “willing to work to find a solution”.
BMA resident doctors committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher said the Health Secretary must use the limited time remaining to engage with doctors and put forward a credible proposal to resolve what he described as a workforce crisis, warning against real-terms pay reductions planned for 2026.
The union said patient safety would remain a priority throughout the industrial action, adding it would stay in close contact with NHS England to respond to any safety issues should they arise.
The Government’s offer included a rapid expansion of specialist training posts and a commitment to cover certain out-of-pocket costs, including examination fees.
However, it stopped short of offering additional pay and instead proposed extending the union’s strike mandate to allow any action to be rearranged for January.