'Facilitating more strikes!' James Murray skewered over resident doctor pay deal in fiery GB News grilling

Watch the moment James Murray is handed a scathing GB News grilling after reaching a pay deal with resident doctors.

Speaking to the People's Channel, the Health Secretary assured the deal being reached is "good news for NHS staff and patients".

Heaping praise on the agreement, Mr Murray declared: "I think this is good news, not just for resident doctors, but also for all staff working in the NHS and many of whom have been picking up the pressure when strikes have been happening in recent years.

"But most importantly, it's good news for patients in the NHS because it means that we as a Government can now work with resident doctors to make the NHS stronger and to make sure we're doing the best we can to serve patients."

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

Mr Murray stated: "So this is, I hope, the start of a new relationship between the Government and resident doctors that we can build on to make the NHS stronger."

Pushing back on Mr Murray's praise, host Stephen Dixon pressed him on what the Government "has received in return" for the further pay rise.

The Health Secretary responded: "The cost of strikes would have been more than what the deal costs this year, so the most important thing we've got straight away is that we're saving money by having a deal.

"That is a way to make sure we're putting money into frontline services rather than covering the costs of strikes, and that's really important for everyone in the NHS."

Stressing that the deal is only for a year and the BMA (British Medical Association) are already planning more strike action in the future, host Ellie Costello grilled Mr Murray on failing to "end the cycle of strikes".

Mr Murray assured: "We know that strikes over recent years have cost the NHS billions and when resident doctors have been on strike, other NHS staff have had to step up to help keep the NHS going.

"Now what this means is that we've broken that cycle of strikes, and we can now focus on working together to make the NHS stronger."

Interjecting the Health Secretary, Ellie hit back: "You haven't though, have you? They're talking about going on strike next year?"

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Resident doctors accept last-minute pay deal to end months of NHS strike chaos
• 'Unforgivable!' Armed Forces left underfunded by billions in Keir Starmer's parting gift as PM
• The surprise group that backs Ed Miliband to become Chancellor if Andy Burnham wins keys to No10

He responded: "We've now got this deal, which is a really important step forward, it means that the current dispute is over. It means that we can focus on improving the pay progression, improve training, improve working conditions for resident doctors.

"That is the basis on which we can have a better relationship in the future, and that will be my focus now."

Challenging Mr Murray, Stephen argued that the deal is in fact "facilitating more strikes" in the future, as the Government has "caved in" to the BMA's demands with nothing in return.

Mr Murray told GB News: "We've been in a cycle of strikes for months, for years, where the strikes have caused an impact on NHS services.

"Even though we've kept things going, kept most appointments in place, it's had a really big impact, not just on patients, but also on NHS staff who've had to step up to cover the strikes when resident doctors have been on strike.

"Now, the fact that we are now at an end of that process and the BMA said the strikes now are over, that means that we can move forward and focus on working together with resident doctors to improve the quality of care for patients right across the NHS, and focus on making the NHS stronger for the future."

Grilled on whether the Labour Government would implement an outright ban on future doctor strikes, Mr Murray declared he "doesn't agree" with blocking strike action.

He concluded: "I think that it's really important to have rights at work, and it's important that different workforces have the ultimate right to industrial action. But I think that when people go on strike, that's a failure of both sides to come to a deal.

"I think what we should be focusing on and aiming for is a negotiated settlement that avoids the need for strikes, that avoids going down that route because that's in the best interests of employees and of patients, and that's what I want to make sure we focus on doing now that we've got this deal in place."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter