Wes Streeting calls BMA ‘impossible’ and says they made ‘misleading’ claims
Wes Streeting has accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “impossible” and issuing “misleading” information in an escalation of tensions with the doctors union.In an unusual move, the health secretary wrote on Thursday to England’s 50,000 GPs to convey his frustration with the BMA over recent changes that from last month made it easier for patients to contact them online between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday.He has underlined his concern about the union’s behaviour by ending its longstanding role as the sole negotiator of the annual GP contract that covers doctors’ pay and terms and conditions.Streeting’s letter was prompted by a recent speech by the head of the BMA’s GP committee, Dr Katie Bramall, in which she accused ministers of being “traitors” to their profession and of betraying and lying to them.
In it, he referenced the speech that Bramall gave on 7 November to the annual conference of local medical committees – local groups of GPs – in England.She “accused the government of being ‘traitors’ to the profession and of ‘disingenuousness’, ‘duplicity’ and ‘gaslighting’,” Streeting wrote.“This speech was not just deeply unprofessional and unbecoming of a professional representative body, it was misleading,” he added.“The BMA agreed these contract changes [on online access to GPs] in February 2025 and any suggestions to the contrary are factually incorrect.”He said that the BMA was not displaying “mutual respect and professionalism” in its dealings with the government.
“Your union representatives are currently making it impossible for me and my officials to engage in good faith in the way we would all want.”The relationship between Streeting and the BMA has become increasingly fractious, mainly over the long-running series of strikes by resident – formerly junior – doctors over their pay and difficulties getting places to start training in their chosen medical specialty.The union’s resident doctors committee (RDC) is weighing up whether to stage another strike – which would be their 14th since March 2023 – before Christmas, given their legal strike mandate expires on 6 January.Streeting said the BMA agreed to expand patients’ digital access to GPs in the negotiations over this year’s contract, which concluded in February.However, the union claims that he is guilty of “broken promises” for not putting in place safeguards to stop already busy GP practices becoming “overwhelmed” as a result of patients submitting requests for help online.
Responding to Streeting’s letter, Bramall said a recent BMA survey had found that 42% of more than 1,300 practices that responded have had to reduce the number of face-to-face appointments they offer because GPs are so busy dealing with online communications,“Fewer appointments and practice meltdown isn’t a win for patients or the profession,” she said,Separately, Dr Tom Dolphin, the BMA’s chair of council, criticised the health secretary for revealing the reduction in the union’s role in drawing up the GP contract by publicising his letter,“We would have much preferred the health secretary to contact the BMA privately and directly to seek de-escalation, rather than via the media,Governments do not get to decide their negotiating partners, and not should they,” he said.
Streeting will consult other bodies, including the Royal College of GPs and the NHS Confederation, in his negotiations over the GP contract for 2026-27, to dilute the BMA’s role.The NHS England boss, Sir Jim Mackey, has urged the BMA to end the “doom loop” of strikes by resident doctors, especially during the winter, when the NHS comes under intense pressure.The NHS and ministers are trying hard to end the standoff, which has seen what the BMA says is 20,000 doctors left unemployed and unable to progress their careers by securing places in specialty training, he said, in a letter to the RDC about the problem.Each strike forces the NHS to prioritise safe care during the action and costs £250m, Mackey added.“Let’s do everything we can to avert industrial action during winter, when our patients really rely on us being there for them,” he said.
Only people power can save us from populism | Letters
Timothy Garton Ash has produced an excellent list of safeguards against extremism (My guide to populist-proofing your democracy – before it’s too late, 25 November). Unfortunately, they don’t work in the long term. The finest minds of the Enlightenment devised the checks and balances of the US constitution, and an authoritarian like Donald Trump brushed them aside in two minutes.Laws and regulations to guarantee good government only work if the people want them to. If they’re not bothered, then no amount of safeguarding is of much use
A public inquiry on Brexit might make it easier for us to rejoin the EU | Letters
Better late than never, Jonathan Freedland (Rachel Reeves is studiously ignoring the cause of Britain’s woes: the Brexit-shaped hole in the roof, 21 November). Brexit was supposed to “take back control” and sort out the immigration crisis. In both respects, it failed. Polish plumbers have been replaced by Afghans in asylum hotels, and the UK has forfeited the mechanism to return them to the EU. Meanwhile, with trade, investment and labour choked off, the economy grinds along at the bottom
The Green party’s policies on Israel are appealing to young British Jews | Letter
We were fascinated to read your article on the important report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) on Jewish voting patterns in the UK (British Jews turn to Greens and Reform UK as support for main parties drops, 20 November). This demonstrates that growing numbers of Jews are deserting the Labour and Conservative parties in favour of the Green party and Reform UK.As JPR points out, there is no symmetry here. The turn to Reform among Jewish voters is half the size of the growth in support for the party within the population as a whole. On the other hand, support for Greens among Jews is 900% the size of the turn to the Green party overall
No 10 dismisses claim that OBR revelations show Reeves misled public about need for tax rises in budget – UK politics live
Downing Street has brushed off claims that Rachel Reeves misled voters ahead of the budget about the state of the public finances.At the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson was asked why, in her speech on 4 November, and again in a Radio 5 Live interview a few days later, she said that the downgrade in the productivity growth forecast meant meeting her fiscal rules would be very difficult.Reeves told R5L on 10 November: “It would, of course, be possible to stick with the manifesto commitments [not to raise the main taxes]. But that would require things like deep cuts in capital spending.”Asked today if these warnings meant Reeves misled the public in the run-up to the budget about the state of the public finances, the PM’s spokesperson said: “I don’t accept that,”Asked why Reeves was claiming that there was a black hole in the public finances, when the OBR today is saying there wasn’t (see 12
Sadiq Khan recalls past abuse as he urges Nigel Farage to apologise over racism claims
Sadiq Khan has spoken of his dismay at Nigel Farage’s “desperate” denials of allegations of teenage racism as he described how his experience as a child shaped his life.The mayor of London said testimony from more than 20 individuals who made allegations about the Reform leader had summoned memories of his own past.“Being called the ‘P word’ at that age doesn’t just hurt you, it changes you,” he said. “It changes how you pronounce your name. It changes the way you talk to your friends, and it changes the way you walk down the street
Budget has preserved Starmer’s job until at least May elections, say Labour MPs
Labour MPs have said they believe Keir Starmer’s leadership is safe until at least the May elections, after a budget that avoided any major damaging measures but which few MPs believe will revive the party’s fortunes.More than a dozen previously loyal MPs told the Guardian they did not believe the budget would shift the fundamentals required for the party to beat Reform. “It only delays what is inevitable,” one minister said.On Wednesday night in the Commons after the budget, many of the cabinet did the rounds chatting to MPs, including the health secretary and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, a tacit declaration of peace after the fallout from a week of furious briefing about Streeting’s leadership ambitions from allies of Starmer.Those close to Starmer were adamant he would never have walked away had the budget fuelled more criticism of his leadership
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