“She’s obviously a fan of North Korea and China.”
Having failed the NHS for 15 years, the Tories are now proposing legislation to ban NHS doctors from going on strike, in what’s been slammed as a ‘desperate intervention’.
Badenoch has said that should the Tories return to power, they would introduce legislation for minimum service levels and block doctors taking widespread industrial action.
It comes after resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, began five days of strike action on Friday, with BMA members manning picket lines across the country.
They have been given a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year, following a 22% increase over the previous two years.
However, the BMA says wages are still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008. It said in a statement: “Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008. Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.”
Announcing her policy to ban doctors strikes on Sunday, Badenoch accused the union of becoming “more and more militant”, adding that the pay rise resident doctors had already received was “well above anything that any other group has had”.
She also posted on X: “Doctors hold lives in their hands. No one should lose critical healthcare because of strikes but that’s what’s happening now.
“That’s why a Conservative government led by me would ban doctors’ strikes, just like we do the army and police.”
Reacting to her post, one doctor wrote: “Rather than addressing why doctors are striking; years of pay erosion, unsafe staffing, and being driven out of the NHS, you’ve chosen the Tory route: accelerate the mass exodus of doctors out of the NHS even more.
“Doctors train for years. We carry trauma, risk, and responsibility that many people can’t imagine.
“You can pander to the far right if you want, but doctors will not be silenced. We know our worth, and we will keep fighting for fair pay and better working conditions.”
Another social media user wrote: “She’s obviously a fan of North Korea and China.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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