Government has 'no plan' to deal with A&E or train issues, says Wolverhampton MP amid wave of strikes
The wave of strikes across Britain show the Government is "managing decline" and has no plan for the future, a senior Labour frontbencher has said.
Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said there was a "growing sense" that little was running properly, with NHS and rail workers among those due to walk out this month.
And he accused ministers of having no solutions to issues including lengthy A&E waiting times and cancelled trains.
Mr McFadden, Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told the Express & Star: "With inflation running at 10 per cent or more it’s not surprising that people are pushing for a decent pay increase but you always want to see these things resolved without industrial action if that’s possible.
“There will be more days lost to strikes this month than for decades. In the Labour years we had the occasional strike but for example in the NHS I don’t think there was a major dispute for our whole time in office – and the service improved a lot too.
“Even when there aren’t strikes at the moment there’s a growing sense that things are not running properly with ongoing cancellations of trains, long waits in A&E and delays and backlogs in other areas.
“With strikes now spreading across railways, postal workers, the NHS and other sectors this will start to call into question the Government’s ability to get a grip.
“All of it is pointing to a Government that is just managing decline rather than one that really has a plan for the future.
"Ultimately we don’t just have to resolve these disputes but resolve the backlogs and actually see some improvement in our public services."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he is working on "new tough laws" to protect the public from strike disruption.
Nurses, ambulance workers, rail workers and teachers are among those set for industrial action over the coming weeks.
