The British Medical Association has become a militant force that no longer represents the best interests of patients and many doctors. Its repeated strike action has turned the NHS into a political playground, where ordinary people pay the price through cancelled operations, missed appointments and dangerously overstretched wards.
These strikes are not about fairness or dialogue, they are about power. The BMA’s leadership is pursuing a political agenda, waging ideological war on the health service. This is union overreach of the highest order. When doctors abandon the frontline for the picket line, it is a direct threat to patient care.
Labour is enabling this chaos. One of Keir Starmer’s first acts in government was to capitulate to the BMA’s demands, handing out inflation-busting pay rises without securing a single reform in return. The message from Wes Streeting was clear – militant behaviour is rewarded.
Now, Angela Rayner’s radical Employment Rights Bill will go even further, stripping away the few remaining safeguards that protect the public. She plans to scrap the 50 per cent turnout threshold for strike ballots, allowing union action to proceed with minimal support.
This opens the door to more disruption, not just in the NHS, but across every part of the public sector.
Labour’s outrage over the BMA strikes is deeply disingenuous. If they truly cared about public services, or the people who rely on them, they would tear up this extreme union charter immediately. Instead, Angela Rayner is dragging Britain back to the chaos and dark days of the 1970s.
That’s why the Conservative Party is stepping up with a clear plan. Under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, we will legislate to ban widespread strike action by doctors, like police officers and soldiers, and ensure minimum service levels across the healthcare service. These reforms are about protecting patients and restoring order to a system that millions rely on.
I’ve worked in the hospice sector, and I know what’s at stake. Families need the NHS to be there in times of crisis. No one should have to suffer because a militant union is flexing its muscles.
Labour has chosen union appeasement. Only the Conservatives are offering leadership, reform and a health service that puts patients first.