Rishi Sunak has been accused of being “out of touch” with voters after he was caught laughing as he was challenged on the street by a woman who expressed anger over the dire state of NHS waiting lists.
Cameras captured the awkward conversation as the Prime Minister confronted voters in Winchester town center over health care problems during a stroll through Winchester town centre.
Mr Sunak burst into laughter when the woman, a former NHS worker, told him she could stop the problems and “put things back to normal”.
Labor attacked the disturbing clip, saying it showed the Conservative Party leader had “no idea about the misery experienced by NHS patients”.
The woman first confronted Mr Sunak about long waiting times for hospital treatment, telling him: “My daughter waited seven hours.”
Mr Sunak blamed striking junior doctors for the backlog and told the woman that the recent fall in the number of people waiting “shows that we can only really make progress when there is no strike”.
In a speech caught on camera during a walk in his blue-walled constituency in the south, Mr Sunak said with a laugh: “You can put things back to the way they were… we could go to hospital.”
When the woman started talking about her daughter, Mr Sunak appeared to turn his back. But he later turned to continue speaking and said he was “sorry to hear” his daughter had spent seven hours in A&E.
The Prime Minister reiterated that all disputes behind the NHS strikes, apart from those with junior doctors, had now been resolved. The woman said she “hoped for that” and shook his hand.
Sir Keir Starmer said the clip of Mr Sunak laughing at a constituent worried about the NHS had “reinforced people’s opinions about the government”.
The Labor leader said: “The Prime Minister doesn’t understand what people are going through” and added: “We’re sticking to our plan – we’re not laughing it off.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the encounter showed Mr Sunak had “no idea of the misery” experienced by NHS patients. “Sunak will get a taste of his own medicine when he seeks votes later this year,” he said.
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said it was “frankly shocking” to “laugh in the face of a former healthcare worker” while trying to explain NHS problems.
He added: “Lack of communication doesn’t even describe Rishi Sunak’s attitude towards the NHS. The Prime Minister either doesn’t care or doesn’t understand.”
A new Redfield & Wilton poll has found Labor retains a narrow lead over the Conservatives in crucial blue wall seats. The poll shows Sir Keir’s party is 31 per cent ahead of Mr Sunak’s party, which received 30 per cent of the vote in the 42 seats won by the Conservative Party in the south of England in 2019.
Mr Sunak has pledged to abolish waiting lists as one of his five big promises ahead of the 2024 general election, which he plans to hold in the “second half” of the year.
Nearly 6.39 million patients across England were awaiting routine hospital treatment in November, figures show; This figure was down slightly from 6.44 million in October. But data shows that despite the overall decline, the NHS is still failing to meet many of its key performance targets.
The number of people in England seeking routine hospital treatment was just over 10,500 at the end of October, down from just over 11,000 at the end of November for more than 18 months.
A&E waiting times have also worsened; 69.4 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in December; There was a decrease from 69.7 percent in November to the target of 76 percent set in March this year.
Meanwhile, a leading Boris Johnson supporter has claimed that “at least” 29 Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in Mr Sunak.
Andrea Jenkyns, a Tory supporter who has been a consistent critic of Mr Sunak, said more than two dozen colleagues had told her they had given her letters.
“It is always absurd to talk of letters; only Sir Graham [Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee] “He knows how many people are inside,” a Sunak ally said. Independent. The senior Tory said it would be “madness” to replace the current leader before the general election.
Fresh controversy emerged as Mr Sunak urged his colleagues to “get ahead” with the Rwanda bill in the House of Lords, saying he wanted to get deportation flights “up and running” as soon as possible.
In a pointed message to the Lords on Friday, the Prime Minister said: “I strongly urge them to get on with this work, because we all want to do just that… the country is fed up and frustrated with this merry-go-round – let’s get on with it.”
But colleagues rejected the Conservative Party leader’s “bizarre” request that the legislation be rushed through. The upper house approved a two-month timetable to review the bill, refusing to move any faster than usual.