Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has suggested that former Prime Minister Liz Truss is wrong to brand environmental activists as extremists.
Asked if she believed people who espouse environmentalism are extremists, Victoria Atkins told GB News: “No, and we have a very proud record as a government on tackling both climate change and ensuring that our carbon emissions are brought down because we all understand that this is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity over the next century
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that the UK continues to lead the world in cutting, for example, carbon emissions, but we do so in a way that is fair. The Prime Minister has taken a very long hard look at this and made some very long-term decisions for our future and I think we're in the right place on this.”
During a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she refused to comment on a call from Lord Gavin Barwell for Liz Truss to lose the whip over her comments: “I didn't hear your conversation. I didn't hear Liz Truss yesterday because I was visiting Great Ormond Street Hospital as Health Secretary.
“I tell you the single most thing we can do to help her entrench our reputation for popular conservative policies, that's delivering on dentistry, which is why I'm delighted to be out this morning.”
Asked why NHS dental care is so abysmal, she said: “I sure we all remember during the pandemic that dentistry was one of the sections of the NHS that was particularly hard hit , the whole of the NHS was hard hit.
“But with dentistry, you'll remember we had all of the problems of re-opening dental surgeries and so having tried to reform some of the contract last summer, we want to go further and faster because I want to open up dental surgery and surgeries and appointments to more people around the country.
“The plan that we're announcing today ensures that we are getting dental care faster, simpler and fairer towards people that really need it. For example, bringing dental vans into those most underserved areas across the country.”
Asked about the King’s cancer diagnosis, she said: “Our thoughts are very much with His Majesty and indeed the whole of the Royal Family during what must be a very difficult time for them all.
“In terms of cancer, we know that we are, thankfully, diagnosing people at earlier stages. We're seeing more people than ever before.
“Last year, we saw in the single month of November, we saw some 12,000 people every single day working day for urgent referrals for cancer.”
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