Brazen Grant Shapps claims striking paramedics are ‘risking lives’ in ‘poison’ crackdown
Brazen Grant Shapps has claimed paramedics are putting “lives at risk” as his strikes crackdown is branded “poison”.
The Business Secretary is accused of “demonising” striking ambulance workers as he published a Bill to impose “minimum service levels” on key industries.
Tory backbencher Stephen McPartland launched a stinging attack on the Bill, tweeting: “Shameful, shameful, shameful to target individual workers & order them to walk past their mates on picket line or be sacked.
“By all means fine the Unions, make them agree to minimum service levels, but don’t sack individual NHS staff, teachers & workers!!!”
But speaking in the Commons, Mr Shapps made the inflammatory claim that ambulance union members – who will walk out again tomorrow – are themselves risking patients’ lives.
He said: “A lack of timely co-operation from the ambulance unions meant employers could not reach agreement nationally for minimum safety levels during recent strikes.
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“Health officials were left guessing at the likely minimum coverage, making contingency planning almost impossible and putting everyone’s constituents’ lives at risk.
“The ambulance strike plans for tomorrow still do not have minimum safety levels in place and this will result in patchy emergency care for the British people.
“This cannot continue.”
But deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner hit back: “The first thing that comes to mind… is my constituent, who waited over an hour for an ambulance, who died waiting for an ambulance.
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“And that was not on a strike day. That was because of the disastrous chaos we have in the system under this Conservative government.”
She branded the new law the “Sacking Nurses Bill – an outright attack on the fundamental freedom of British working people”.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea accused ministers of trying to “demonise” NHS 999 staff and branded the crackdown a “diversionary tactic”.
She said: “They can’t provide safe staffing in the NHS now so they want to find a scapegoat for it.
“Instead of sitting down with us to continue talks to try to resolve this, they are putting their energies into trying to demonise unions yet again, and demonise working people who have taken legal strike action.”
Today’s Bill will forces some fire, rail and ambulance staff to work during a strike – and could later hit health, education, transport, border security, and nuclear decommissioning workers.
Employers will be allowed to sue unions that refuse to comply, and it’s thought workers who refuse could be legally sacked.
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Ms Rayner said the plan “won’t work”, while the Tories were “out of ideas, out of time” and “playing politics with nurses’ and teachers’ lives”
“How can he seriously think sacking thousands of key workers won’t just plunge our public services further into crisis?” she added.
The exchange came moments after Mr Shapps claimed NHS staff are “truly are the lifeblood of the country… We cannot do without them”.
He added: “The government will always defend their ability to withdraw their labour.”
He went on: “The British people need to know that when they have a heart attack, a stroke or a serious injury, that an ambulance will turn up.”
But critics point to soaring ambulance waiting times, which have left dying people unable to get a paramedic on time.
And unions launched a chorus of anger against the proposals, which were due to be published this lunchtime.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said the Bill “will prolong disputes and poison industrial relations – leading to more frequent strikes.”
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He added: “This legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.
“That’s undemocratic, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal.”
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “This Bill is another dangerous gimmick from a Government that should be negotiating to resolve the current crisis they have caused.”
TSSA Interim General Secretary, Frank Ward said: “These plans are an affront to the British people.
“That will mean that when key workers democratically vote to strike they could be forced back to work and sacked if they don’t. That’s wrong, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This law could make effective strike action illegal, and workers may be sacked for exercising their right to withdraw their labour.
“The only reason this draconian legislation is being introduced is because the government have lost the argument and want to punish workers for having the temerity to demand decent pay and working conditions.”
Mr Shapps updated Cabinet on the minimum safety levels legislation this morning.
Rishi Sunak told his top team that the Government would “continue to act in a way that was open, fair and affordable, noting that inflation remained the biggest threat to everyone’s wages.”
Downing Street insisted the law would be held in reserve for difficult cases, not used willy-nilly.
No10 said: “What this legislation aims to do is when, should unions progress with strike action and then should those unions not agree to set safe working levels, as we have seen some unions do – the RCN is a good example where they took a responsible step – then this acts as a safety net to provide that minimum level of safety to the public.
“So, that’s what this legislation is designed to do, rather than to prevent people striking.
“It is obviously carefully designed to strike the balance between respecting people’s ability to strike and being responsible when it comes to providing safe levels for the public.”
The PM’s spokesman wouldn’t specify what the “minimum” proportion of the workforce would be. “It’s something that will be looked at in a consultation and it will vary,” he said.