Andrew Marr: Sunak and Starmer's political futures may depend on how they deal with the NHS crisis this winter

18 January 2023, 18:21

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer's political futures may depend on how they deal with the NHS crisis this winter, Andrew Marr has said.

Opening LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, the presenter addressed the spiralling NHS crisis after nurses walked out again on Wednesday in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

"There are some stories so big they never seem to go away and they can't be avoided," Andrew said.

"And in Britain tonight, the condition of the National Health Service on which we all depend, is one of them.

"Campaigners marched through the centre of London to show support for striking nurses under the banner NHS in Crisis, Fix it Now. 

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Andrew Marr: Sunak and Starmer's political futures depend on how they deal with the NHS crisis

"Meanwhile, in the Commons the Labour leader spent a long time spelling out the human impact of delays in the ambulance service.

"The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, kept asking why Labour wouldn't back his proposed law on minimum standards; both men know very well their political futures may depend on how voters judge them on the NHS this winter."

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Andrew continued: "In the blizzard of numbers, acronyms and point scoring which so often clouds our discussion of the health service, I feel there's a danger of missing, or forgetting, the human stories which make up its daily reality.

"So with the nurses on strike again today, I caught up with one of them – I'm disguising her identity for her own sake – to discuss what her life feels like in the wards and corridors of the front line."