RISHI Sunak demanded Keir Starmer explain how he would solve NHS waiting lists and end doctors' strikes in a fiery spat.
The two candidates for No.10 clashed over the state of the health service, with the PM accusing the Labour chief of having no solution to resolve disputes with strike-happy unions who are after a 35 per cent salary hike.
The second question of the debate was from Janet, in Telford, who had family members working in the health service and recently lost her cousin.
She asked: “The NHS is broken. Be honest with us, how long will it take to fix it?”
Sir Keir answered: “It’s unforgivable what’s happened to the NHS. To come into government and leave the NHS in a worse state than you found it after 14 years is unforgivable.
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“Rishi Sunak said he would get those waiting lists down, he made a promise, he said he’d be held accountable. They were 7.2 million, now they’re 7.5 million.”
Mr Sunak said: “Of course it’s difficult and you’re right and we have to be honest about the damage that Covid has done and the time that it will take to recover from that.
“But we’re putting record funding in... The NHS is safe in my hands and I want to give you the peace of mind that it will be there for you and your family when you need it.”
But after Sunak insisted waiting lists WERE coming down under his leadership, Starmer quipped: “This is going to be the guy who’s good at maths”.
In a dramatic first TV debate:
- Rishi ripped into Keir over Labour's Tax Plans
- The PM accused the Labour leader of having 'no new ideas'
- He blasted Starmer for what the PM called a 'retirement tax'
- But Sir Keir hit back, calling the PM 'desperate'
- A snap YouGov poll showed 51% of people thought Rishi won
The PM even caused the crowd to laugh when he doubled down, adding: “They’re coming down from where they were when they were higher”.
Rishi blamed “industrial action” for the lists soaring to record highs, to which Sir Keir asked: “So somebody else’s fault? What did personal responsibility actually mean?”
Probed on how he would end the crisis, Starmer only said Labour “has a plan” but refused to name a specific solution.
He added: “We’ve got to resolve them and for months and months and months the Prime Minister hasn’t resolved them.
“We’ve also got to bring down the waiting lists. Labour has a plan for 40,000 extra appointments, that’s two million a year, to bring those waiting lists down.”
Mystic Mag's 2023 predictions include strikes, sleaze, self pity and separation
But the PM got a round of applause when he insisted he could not offer junior doctors a whopping 35 per cent pay rise – telling the crowd: “I don’t want to raise your taxes because I don’t think that’s right.”
Sunak then demanded: “You’ve just said you were going to resolve it, that’s not a plan, how would YOU resolve it?”
In response, Sir Keir said: “His record is of saying ‘I’m not going to get in the room to negotiate’.
“We have to end these strikes, the grown-up way is to get in the room with the doctors and negotiate a way forward.”
It came as the Labour leader claimed he would NEVER use private healthcare – even if a relative was critically ill while on an NHS waiting list.
Asked if he would ever use healthcare outside the NHS, he said: “No. I don’t use private health.
“I use the NHS. That's where my wife works, in one of the big hospitals; as I said it runs through my DNA."
But Mr Sunak admitted he WOULD stump up more cash to get a relative seen quickly by a specialist doctor – simply answering: “Yes”.
The argument was one of many in a heated hour-long debate which saw moderator Julie Etchingham repeatedly plead with both men to stop talking over each other.
The pair clashed on Rishi's controversial National Service plans as well as Labour tax plans which the Tories say will sting working families for £2,094 a year.
