Wes Streeting said the NHS was “dealing with” resident doctor strikes, but he was concerned about its recovery as the strike entered its final day.
The Health Secretary told the Observer that the NHS had managed to get through the five-day procedure by British Medical Association doctors, but he was concerned about the next period as the health service struggles with flu cases.
Streeting took a tough stance on strikes. Resident doctors were offered a deal that included more training places but no additional money, which was rejected.
His stances were criticized by Andrea Egan, Unison’s incoming general secretary, as an “unacceptable” approach to striking workers.
“I think the NHS is coping,” Streeting said. “The period I’m most concerned about is the post-strike period when we have to try to restore the service. This now comes at a time of year that is the NHS’s busiest.”
“I don’t think doctors are selfish and don’t care about nurses and other healthcare professionals, but the Bahrain Medical Association’s position can be quite tough and uncompromising.”
His statements came as part of a wide-ranging interview in which he talked about the economy, Europe and his own ambitions, while confirming that he was not seeking Keir Starmer’s job.
Noting that he is one of the most pro-EU cabinet members, Streeting said that establishing a deeper economic partnership with Europe would be the best way to increase growth.
He also said that any economic partnership between the UK and the EU “could not lead to a return to free movement” – leaving the door open to a potential customs union.
The government has ruled out a customs union and a return to freedom of movement as it seeks deeper trade ties with Brussels, but some in the Cabinet want the prime minister to go further in his ambitions to improve the economy.
Streeting indicated that he wanted to go beyond the current reset of relations with the European Union, which he described as a “good start.”
“We’ve taken a huge economic hit after leaving the European Union. I’m really uncomfortable with the level of taxation in this country. We’re asking too much of individual taxpayers, we’re asking too much of businesses. We have a level of indebtedness that we have to take seriously,” he said. “The best way for us to achieve further growth in our economy is to establish a deeper trading relationship with the European Union.
“The reason leaving the EU hit us so hard as a country is because of the enormous economic benefits that came with being in the single market and customs union. This is a country and a government that wants a closer trading relationship with Europe.”
Streeting, considered a leading contender to be the next Labor leader, described recent briefings by Starmer’s allies several weeks ago – amid speculation he was preparing to replace the prime minister – as a “strange vehicle” and questioned why anyone would want the top job.
However, he also seemed keen not to exclude himself, saying: “I’m diplomatically dodging the question to avoid more of the ridiculous soap opera we’ve seen in the last few months.” When asked if he thought Britain would be prepared to vote for a gay prime minister, he said: “Yes, but I want to make it very clear that this is not an offer or a job application. The prime minister has my absolute support.”
Labour’s Anna Turley was pressed on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips about Starmer’s low approval ratings, insisting he will still be Prime Minister next Christmas. She said it was “nonsense” that he might have to resign if local election results were bad for Labor in May, and said the whole team was “united behind him”.
Streeting said he and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner joked about rumors that they had reached an agreement to make a joint bid if there was a vacancy, insisting that bore no resemblance to reality.
“The last time I had a conversation with Angela was when I went up to her in the voting lobby and said, ‘I heard you’re forming a new government, I’ve always liked the idea of a Foreign Office, so join me,’ and she turned around and said, as quickly as a flash, ‘Oh, no, you’re behind the times, haven’t you heard that I’m going to go on, I’m a celebrity?'” he says. “We laughed a lot about it because there was a lot of gossip and gossip.”
He also hinted that he takes a different position on social media bans for under-16s to some other people in the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister.
“We need to think more radically about how we support young people to navigate this new online world,” he says. “[It] It has been a place of bullying, intimidation, sometimes misogyny, and even extremism. The challenge with social media is that it is an increasingly anti-social media. “That’s why I think what Australia is doing is interesting and we should follow the results closely and see if this is something we should consider doing here.”