Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has said he does not believe emergency workers should go on strike and revealed the party is in discussions about whether it could be developed as a policy.
Speaking on GB News, Lee Anderson said:
"If you take strike action and you're a doctor, a nurse, an ambulance drive, whatever, then lives will be put at risk.
“And I'm fairly sure, because I've spent time with some of the ambulance staff in Ashfield; I spent a shift with them going out to different calls and the majority of them are decent, hardworking people that do the job for the right reasons.
“We have to bear in mind as well that there are lots of people who are calling out ambulances on a daily basis who are just time wasters. We had one particular case where one chap in Ashfield called the ambulance 100 times in a month and I think worst thing he’d got wrong with him was a headache.
“Now, these sorts of people, once they start ringing the ambulance service on this sort of level, should be charged every single time. That would go some way to helping.
“We’ve also got the backlog at A&E and stuff like that which doesn't help but really, if you're a paramedic and somebody dies on your watch, because it's taking you 30 odd hours to get there, then that’s on their conscience.
“I was speaking to my colleagues in Reform today about this very thing. We're having a serious discussion on this topic next week at our meeting.
“There’s got to be a consensus but nobody wants to see emergency workers on strike because the consequences are devastating.
“My personal view is that emergency workers should not be going on strike, full stop. That should be in your contract. What would happen if police officers went on strike, the army went on strike and prison officers went on strike? The country would come to a standstill.
“There has to be a moral obligation from these sorts of workers to make sure that even when times are tough, you do the job.”
