Today is the first ever nationwide nurses strike, a badge of shame for the govt.

Nurses are not to blame: they've been burnt out by 12 years of Tory austerity.

The nursing union offered to cancel the strike simply if Ministers sat down to discuss pay. The govt refused. pic.twitter.com/utKUtcMRU3

— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) December 15, 2022

Hello Plymouth. Today is the first ever nationwide nurses strike, a badge of shame for the government.

Nurses are not to blame: they’ve been left understaffed, overworked and burnt out by the cost-of-living crisis and twelve years of Tory underinvestment in our NHS.

The nursing union offered to cancel the strike simply if Ministers sat down to discuss pay with them, but our Tory government refused.

Keir Starmer has been clear that a Labour government would have got around the table to negotiate, preventing the nursing strike.

And the next Labour government will deliver the largest NHS workforce expansion in history to ease the pressure on staff and patients, delivering 7,500 more doctors a year, 10,000 more nurses and midwives a year, 5,000 more health visitors and doubling the number of district nurses.

We’d pay for all this by abolishing the non-dom tax loophole which allows the very richest to get away without paying their fair share.

The Tories clapped for our nurses during the pandemic. Now it’s time for them to match their words with action.

It doesn’t have to be like this. From rail to Royal Mail to border force, the government and employers need to get around the table and find a solution.