Exclusive: Health secretary says Labour will not meet union’s pay demands but both sides can ‘win the peace’
Wes Streeting: My message to doctors, after five days of strikes? Work with us – if you go to war with us, you’ll lose
The doctors union “will lose a war with this government”, Wes Streeting has said, adding that the NHS is ready to tough out a prolonged series of strikes by the British Medical Association (BMA).
In his most outspoken comments so far about the dispute involving resident doctors in England, the health secretary vowed that Labour would never give in to their demand for a 29% pay rise.
However, in a plea to the BMA, he urged it to agree a deal based on tackling other frustrations those doctors have, separate to their salaries, in which both sides would “win the peace”.
