RESIDENT doctors are joined yesterday by their four-legged friends as five days of Christmas strike action gets under way.
As some gathered outside London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, the PM condemned the “dangerous and utterly irresponsible” walkout by the hardline British Medical Association, which wants a huge pay rise.
He said his message to resident doctors was: “Don’t abandon patients, work with us to improve to conditions and rebuild the NHS.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is “completely focused” on getting the NHS through the action.
But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of not having the “baubles” to ban strikes, and said he had lost control to trade unions.
Meanwhile, the militant Andrea Egan beat PM ally Christina McAnea to lead the country’s biggest union, Unison, in a surprise result.
It came amid a new blow to the PM’s authority as a hard left critic was elected to lead the country’s biggest union.
Militant Andrea Egan will become general secretary of Unison after a surprise election result.
She ousted the PM’s most powerful trade union ally Christina McAnea with almost 60 per cent of the vote.
It means the PM loses crucial support on Labour’s powerful ruling national executive committee.
And funding could now be in doubt after Unison handed the party £1.49 million last year.
Ms Egan has vowed to review Unison’s relationship with Labour and end their “subservience”.
