Gavin and Stacey star says Great Britain cannot be called 'great' anymore because of the state of the NHS
14 December 2022, 09:29 | Updated: 14 December 2022, 09:56
Actress Alison Steadman has said that the country no longer deserves to be called 'Great' Britain due to the current state of the National Health Service.
The Gavin and Stacey star, 76, blasted Tory ministers for their “ridiculous” and “disgraceful” failure to get round the table with nursing staff for pay talks.
Speaking to The Mirror she said: "You can't call it Great Britain anymore, I don't think. I love my country, I'm faithful to my country, but I do think over the last 12 years things have gone down."
Alison, who is a patron of Keep Our NHS Public, went on to defend nurses and said that they were hardworking and underpaid not "greedy people who want a pay increase".
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She added: “They are in one of the poorest paid jobs in the country and this shouldn't be the case.
“Thousands are leaving the nursing profession because the pay is so poor. They work long hours, they are totally committed.
"There's got to be something done. There's got to be a negotiation. The fact that they (the nurses) are threatening to strike means that they're really being pushed to the absolute limit and the government should be dealing with this.
"People are dying because they can't get into hospital. We need more nurses, more doctors, more ambulance workers. We need more hospitals".
The health unions have offered to call off walkouts beginning on Thursday if Health Secretary Steve Barclay agrees to hold negotiations on pay, but he has refused.
Mr Barclay said he "deeply regrets" the walkouts but added that the demands – a 19 per cent pay rise – are simply "not affordable".
