Desperate Rishi Sunak claims UK would be 'still in lockdown' if Keir Starmer was PM

The Prime Minister missed his Boris Johnson-style attack at PMQs as he battled criticism over his government's refusal to meet with trade unions. 'nurses over pay to avoid nationwide strikes

Rishi Sunak made this bizarre claim during PMQs (

Image: PA)

Wader Rishi Sunak claimed the UK would still be stuck in Covid lockdown if Keir Starmer was in charge - without any evidence.

The Prime Minister missed his Boris Johnson-esque attack at PMQs as he battled criticism over his government's refusal to meet nurses' unions over pay.

Hardly anywhere in the world is on lockdown - and even Communist China's President Xi is under increasing pressure to ease the country's remaining measure.

The Labor leader urged Mr Sunak to stop nurses from crossing the country on Thursday by accepting demands from the MRC for serious talks on wages.

He said: 'As always with this Prime Minister, it's Conservative politics first, patients second.

"We've never seen a nurses' strike like this before, but they were forced into it because the government broke the health care system."

Mr. Sunak dismissed his criticisms and insisted that the government was already recruiting thousands of doctors and nurses.

Union Leader Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister said: "He asks about the backlog in the NHS and yet what he still fails to acknowledge is the impact of Covid - that's why we are under pressure.

"We have a plan, not just more money, not just more doctors and nurses, new diagnostic centers performing millions of checks and tests, new surgical centers offering more elective surgeries .

"But if we had listened to him, the backlog would continue to grow and that's because we would still be in lockdown."

Mr. Starmer fired back, saying, "As usual, he's trying to blame everyone."

Former Prime Minister Mr Johnson was fond of accusing Labor of being reluctant to leave the lockdown – despite members of his own cabinet being divided throughout the pandemic over the levels of restrictions .

The last Covid lockdown in England ended on July 19, 2021, almost 18 months ago.

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