UK politics - live: Barclay says ‘risk’ patients dying unnecessarily due to NHS delays
A union boss later accused the health secretary of saying ‘frankly pretty dishonest stuff’
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Your support makes all the difference.Health secretary Steve Barclay has admitted there is a “material risk” NHS patients are dying unnecessarily due to long ambulance delays,
Mr Barclay was also accused of “frankly pretty dishonest stuff” by the leader of the GMB union largest unions as he defended the actions ministers are taking on the health service.
Asked if people were dying because of ambulance delays, Mr Barclay told the BBC’s Laura Kuenessberg: “If there is a delay in an ambulance getting to someone in terms of unmet need, then obviously that is a material risk”.
During his Sunday media round this morning, the former Brexit minister also claimed he did not recognise a report in The Sunday Times that Britain will seek a Swiss-style deal with the European Union.
It follows reports that senior figures in Rishi Sunak’s government were considering moving Britain towards such relationship with the bloc in pursuing frictionless trade amid the soaring cost-of-living crisis.
He told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News: “We’ve got a prime minister who himself supported Brexit. I myself did and was Brexit secretary, and worked very hard to maximise our control of our laws, our borders and our money.
Keir Starmer pledges to ‘abolish the House of Lords’ as prime minister
Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly vowed to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected chamber if he becomes prime minister, Lamiat Sabin reports.
The Labour leader said he would enact this plan to “restore trust in politics”, according to The Observer.
He told his party’s peers at a meeting last week that he wants to transfer power from politicians to people by allowing them to vote on who to appoint to the upper chamber, the paper reported.
Sir Keir reportedly said: “I want to be clear that we do need to restore the trust of the public in every part of the United Kingdom in our system of government.
“House of Lords reform is just one part of that ... People have lost faith in the ability of politicians and politics to bring about change, that is why, as well as fixing our economy, we need to fix our politics.”
Rishi Sunak’s government ‘considering Swiss-style relationship with EU’
Senior figures in Rishi Sunak’s government are reportedly planning to move Britain into a Swiss-style relationship with the European Union.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt signalled last week that Mr Sunak’s administration intends to break ranks with Boris Johnson’s approach by removing the majority of trade barriers with the bloc.
Now, according to The Sunday Times, senior government sources have suggested that pursuing frictionless trade means moving towards a Swiss-style agreement with the EU.
Downing Street sources rejected the report.
Read our full report.
Rishi Sunak’s government reportedly ‘considering Swiss-style relationship with EU’
Downing Street sources rejected reports that the UK would head towards a Swiss-style relationship with EU
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