PMQ - live: Sunak accused of playing games with people's health as nurses' strike looms

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Full exchange: Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak clash over NHS nurses' strikeSign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in British politicsGet our free Inside Politics emailPlease enter an email address validPlease enter a valid The Independent email address. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}An error has occurred. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak has been accused of 'playing games with people's health' as ​​nurses prepare to go on strike tomorrow.

In the Prime Minister's Last Questions before Christmas, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the historic strike was "a sign of shame on this Government".

He said: "Instead of showing leadership, he is playing games with people's health and there is a human cost.

"Alex de Chester is waiting a gallbladder operation for nearly six months, he is in so much pain that he has since left school. His operation has already been canceled twice. His mother, whom I spoke to this morning, is worried sick, when she learned that the strikes could be called off, she was extremely relieved. Keir added.

Mr. Sunak replied, "Now the honorable gentleman says get around the table, but we all know what that means, it's just a political formula to avoid taking a position on this issue."

Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to go on a back-to-back strike tomorrow over their pay after talks with the government broke down.

It comes as railway workers began their first 48-hour strike yesterday and Royal Mail staff began a nationwide strike on Wednesday, their third of six days ahead of Christmas.