Labour is warned: Rail strikes will kill
As NHS leader says patients will die because hospital staff can’t get get to work, Health Secretary tells Left to show some guts and condemn the callous unions
‘On the side of those causing so much misery’
THE Health Secretary last night urged Labour to condemn rail strikes planned for next week amid warnings they will cause deaths.
Sajid Javid said the travel chaos will make it harder for frontline staff, including doctors and nurses, to get to work.
A senior NHS leader warned yesterday that the industrial action will ‘ probably end up killing people’ because it will exacerbate delays for ambulances.
Half of Britain’s rail services will shut down during the walkouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week, while those that do operate a limited service will run between 7.30am and 6.30pm only.
Travel on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday will also be badly affected due to the knockon effects of the industrial action by 40,000 members of the RMT union.
Transport for London has also ‘strongly encouraged’ people not to travel on the London Underground on Tuesday because of a 24-hour walkout by the RMT and Unite. Mr Javid warned that the ‘biggest railway strike since the 1980s’ would ‘bring the nation to a standstill’ and ‘put patients at risk’.
In a letter to Labour health spokesman Wes Streeting, he wrote: ‘ The disruption these strikes will cause will make it more difficult for doctors, nurses, carers, and other healthcare staff to get into work.
‘They will also make it harder for patients to come in to see them for much-needed treatments. Some of these patients will have had to book time off work to attend their appointments.’
Mr Javid criticised Mr Streeting for expressing sympathy for workers after he appeared on the BBC’s Question Time last week. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also refused to condemn the strikes.
Mr Streeting said he would prefer it if the strikes did not take place but he would have voted for industrial action if he were a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.
‘I would be voting to defend my job, terms and conditions,’ he said. ‘[If] you think you’re about to lose your job overnight... of course they’re fighting for their terms and conditions.’
Writing last night, Mr Javid said: ‘It is... disappointing that you have so far chosen to side with those who are causing such misery…
‘Regardless of whether we sit on the Government benches or with the Opposition, we both have a duty to put patients and NHS and
social care staff first.’ Mr Javid added: ‘I know that you care about health and care in this country.
‘So please put patients first and join me in condemning the impact of these unjustified strikes which are bad for patients and bad for NHS and social care staff.’
But in a reply to the letter, Mr Streeting last night wrote: ‘You seem to have mistaken me for the Secretary of State for Transport, who is the person with the power to prevent these strikes.
‘If you and your fellow Cabinet members spent as much time doing your actual jobs as you spend on gimmicks like your letter, the strikes next week may be averted and disruption prevented.’
The Labour frontbencher added: ‘As I have said throughout, I do not want to see this strike action go ahead. You have a duty to patients and NHS staff to ensure that your government is getting round the table for urgent talks.’
There are growing concerns about how the strikes could further hamper struggling ambulance services.
A senior NHS leader, who was not identified, told the Health Service Journal yesterday: ‘Next week’s rail strikes will probably end up killing people because they’ll prevent ambulance trust staff getting to work.’
Both London Ambulance Service Trust and South Central Ambulance Service Foundation Trust have moved to the highest level of alert, meaning they are under extreme pressure.
Downing Street last night insisted the Government was not simply ‘standing by’ while the rail strikes loomed.
‘Ministers remain close to the situation,’ a No10 spokesman said. ‘Industry is offering daily talks with the unions and that’s what we want the unions to engage with and get back round the table.’
But the spokesman said: ‘ The Government is not the employer in this case and it remains the fact that we can’t intervene in the negotiations.