Wes Streeting responds to David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt's evidence to the Covid Inquiry

Wes Streeting MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt's evidence to the Covid Inquiry, including that they had regrets about the record of the Conservative government in securing the NHS workforce, said:

“Over a decade in charge, the Conservatives failed to train the doctors and nurses the NHS needs, hollowed out the NHS ahead of the pandemic, and patients today are paying the price. 

“It’s not that the Conservatives didn’t fix the roof when the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and ripped up the floorboards.

“The Conservatives still haven't learned their lesson, and still refuse to publish an NHS workforce plan. Labour won’t make the same mistake. We will double medical school places to train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses a year, paid for by abolishing non-doms, so the NHS has the staff it needs to treat patients on time again.”