Conservatives set out plan to put national interest first and end doctor strikes

Today [Monday 28^th July 2025], as the BMA's latest damaging walk out enters its 4^th day, Leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch announces the Conservative Party's plans to end the scourge of NHS strikes. 

To protect patients, taxpayers, and the wider health service, the Conservatives are setting out their 3-point plan, which would: 

1.       Put the national interest first, and work with the government to face down the militant BMA 

2.       Introduce Minimum Service Levels across the healthcare service 

3.       Ban doctors from taking widespread strike action, like police officers and soldiers 

These radical changes would be delivered by new primary legislation. This would end the ability for doctors to conduct widespread strike action, re-introduce the ability for the government to determine Minimum Service Levels in the healthcare sector, and put the national interest first by offering to work with the government to face down agitators like the BMA. 

Conservatives respect the crucial work doctors do, but the militant BMA has pushed the health service beyond its limits – and its latest round of strikes threatens to put patients' lives and health at risk, increase waiting lists, and cost taxpayers millions of pounds.  

Action is now needed to ensure that the British public receive the health service they deserve and pay for – with estimates suggesting that the BMA strikes are set to cost this country £367 million over 2025 alone. 

This latest round of strike action comes after the Labour government bowed to the militant union's every demand after taking office and handed over inflation busting pay rises with no productivity or reform strings attached.  

The proposed changes would bring the UK in line with other nations across the world, such as Australia and Canada – which have much tighter restrictions on doctors striking – and European nations such as Greece, Italy and Portugal, that have laws ensuring Minimum Service Levels are in place across their health services. 

The Labour Party bears responsibility for the chaos that we are now seeing – through their continual surrender to union demands, including their plans to repeal trade union legislation introduced by the last Conservative government that guarantees Minimum Service Levels and sets ballot thresholds for strike action. The Government are also handing control to the union barons through their Employment Right's Bill – the pursuit of this legislation has sent a clear signal to the unions, including the BMA, that strikes are to be encouraged and union activism rewarded. Whenever Labour negotiates Britain loses. 

Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting are talking tough now, but their words will continue to ring hollow until they follow the lead of the Conservatives and take the action needed to protect the British public. We know that Keir Starner can't stand up to the trade unions or his left-wing MPs so the Conservatives will work with them in the national interest to face down the trade unions. 

Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said: 

“The BMA has become militant, these strikes are going too far, and it is time for action.  

“Doctors do incredibly important work. Medicine is a vocation – not just a job. That is why in government we offered a fair deal that supported doctors, but protected taxpayers too. 

“These strikes will have a significant economic effect, but they will also mean cancelled operations, worry for families of the sick, and suffering for those who are unwell. We know that previous strike action by doctors even led to some patients losing their lives. 

“That is why Conservatives are stepping in, and setting out common sense proposals to protect patients, and the public finances. And we are making an offer in the national interest – we will work with the Government to face down the BMA to help protect patients and the NHS.” 

Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Health Secretary, said: 

“The Conservative Party has always respected the important work that healthcare professionals do, but enough is enough.  

“The BMA has taken our NHS hostage and used this Labour government's weakness to demand more and more – with taxpayers and patients left to suffer the consequences. 

“As our health service faces yet another round of damaging strike action, the Conservatives are calling time. If Labour were serious about cutting waiting lists and delivering the health system our country deserves, rather than just kowtowing to the unions, they would back our plans.” 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

The Conservatives would introduce new primary legislation to stop doctors from taking widespread disruptive strike action and allow the government to set Minimum Service Levels in the healthcare sector:

·       The proposed legislation would ban doctors from taking widespread disruptive strike action. The proposed primary legislation would restrict the ability for doctors at all levels, including resident doctors, to engage in strike action as regulated by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This would be done through exempting doctors from the relevant section of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 which governs the right to strike. We will also look at introducing ‘back to work orders', along the lines of other European countries.  

·       The proposed legislation would re-introduce the ability for the government to determine minimum service levels in the healthcare sector. The proposed legislation would reintroduce the powers as put forward in the Minimum Service Levels Act 2023 for the health sector, and which allowed the previous government to implement Minimum Service Levels for ambulance services. 

·       Australia has tighter restrictions than the United Kingdom on healthcare professionals striking. Under Australia's Fair Work Act 2009, the Fair Work Commission must suspend or terminate strike action that endangers the safety, health or welfare of the population. Currently under British legislation there is no such requirement, instead an employer must persuade the High Court to grant an injunction (Federal Register of Legislation, Fair Work Act 2009, 26 February 2025, link; Legislation.gov, Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, accessed 25 July 2025, link).  

·       Canada has tighter restrictions than the United Kingdom on healthcare professionals striking. Although regulation varies across provinces, much of the country operates under tighter restrictions than the United Kingdom. Ontario's Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act prohibits any strikes by hospital employees, including doctors. Labour boards and courts across the country can order employees back if essential service obligations are breached (Ontario Gov, Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.14, 8 May 2018, link; BC Laws, Labour Relations Code Chapter 244, 15 July 2025, link).  

·       Greece, Italy and Portugal all have minimum service level regulation for industrial action by healthcare workers, including doctors. Under Greek law, when a stike occurs in certain listed sectors, including in health, there is a requirement for the designated presence of at least 33 per cent of usual staff levels. Under Italian law, healthcare is an essential service and so minimum service levels during periods of industrial action must be agreed or failing that imposed. Under Portugese law, as an essential service, in periods of industrial action healthcare must have agreed or imposed minimum service levels (ILO, Act No. 1264/82, accessed 25 July 2025, link; EuroFund, Article, 27 April 2000, link; Diario de Republica, Labour Code, accessed 25 July 2025, link).  

·       France has, in legislation, the right for local government representatives to invoke ‘back to work' orders in the case of health sector strikes. Under French law the General Code of Local Authorities dictates that ‘in emergencies, when the observed or foreseeable damage to public order, health, peace and safety so requires and when the means available to the prefect no longer allow the pursuit of the objectives for which he has police powers, he may, by reasoned decree, for all the communes of the department or several or one of them, requisition any property or service, request any person necessary for the operation of this service or the use of this property and prescribe any useful measure until the breach of public order has ended or the conditions for its maintenance are ensured'. In practice this acts as the ability for local governmental representatives to requisition striking workers for a return to worker, and this power has been used in this way in several instances (Mondaq, Article, 4 November 2022, link).  

The BMA are holding Britain's patients to ransom: 

·       The previous doctors strikes 2022-24 cost the NHS £1.5 billion. NHS England said: ‘In addition to the inflationary pressures, continued strike action through to the end of January is expected to create a financial cost for the service of around £1.5bn and an equivalent loss of elective activity' (NHS England, Financial performance update, 1 February 2024, link). 

·       The previous doctors strikes 2022-24 resulted in 1.3 million health care appointments being rescheduled, with 66 per cent of those impacted stating the strikes impacted their health. 1.3 million health care appointments were cancelled because of the last set of strikes including for 1.25 million hospital outpatients, 163,000 hospital inpatients, 37,000 mental health appointments and 52,000 community appointments. Of those affected, 66 per cent said that the strikes and consequent delayed appointment had an impact on their health such as ongoing pain, worsened mental health and a loss of income (King's Fund, Blog, 23 February 2024, link). 

·       Junior doctors voted just ten months ago to end strike action after agreeing to a 22.3 per cent pay uplift. 66 per cent of junior doctors voted to accept the 22.3 per cent pay uplift in September 2024, bringing to an end the junior doctors strikes (BMA, Press Release, 16 September 2024, link). 

·       Immediately after the last strikes ended, the BMA's leadership was already discussing further strike action. The day after junior doctors agreed to end the last set of strikes Dr Trivedi, Co-Chairman of the BMA, said: ‘Doctors who were being paid just over £15-an-hour before this offer will now be paid a little over £17-an-hour, so it does mark an improvement, but the journey is not over … if those communications break down, then we will be thinking about going back into dispute and striking again if we need to' (The Independent, 17 September 2024, link).  

·       Policy Exchange estimate this 2025 junior doctors strikes could cost more than £367 million if industrial action is sustained. The Policy Exchange report said: ‘If we saw similar levels of expenditure at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on ‘consultant cover', as was the case between March-April 2023 over the course of July, the total cost to all NHS Trusts in England would be £17.5 million for each day of strike action. That would total £87.46 million over the course of five days of strikes in July 2025 and more than £367.46 million over the remainder of 2025 (if strikes were to occur at a similar level of disruption as between August 2023 and January 2024)' (Policy Exchange, Completely Unreasonable: The Possible Impact of the BMA Resident Doctor Committee's Proposed Industrial Action, July 2025, link). 

Other essential services already face a ban on going on strike: 

·       Police Officers have been banned from striking since 1919. The Police Act 1919 banned Police Officers from going on strike following strikes in London and Liverpool 1918-19. The current legal basis for the ban is found in Section 64 of the Police Act 1996 which prevents Police Officers from joining or forming a trade union outside of the Police Federation (GOV.UK, Policing and Crime Bill, 12 July 2016, link; Police Act 1996, accessed 26 July 2025, link). 

·       Prison Officers have been formally banned from striking since 1994. Section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 made it a criminal offence to ‘induce' a Prison Officer to take industrial action. Prison Officers are not banned from joining a  trade union (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, accessed 26 July 2025, link). 

·       The Armed Forces cannot strike. The Armed Forces are prevented from striking under a mix of legislation, primarily the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Armed Forces Act 2006, accessed 26 July 2025, link). 

Labour have broken their promise to end the junior doctors strikes: 

·       Wes Streeting said doctors have made a ‘fair argument' that their pay hasn't kept up with inflation'. STREETING: ‘They [Junior doctors] are right to say that their pay hasn't kept up in line with inflation. That is factually accurate and true. And they make a fair argument, say, look, we think that's wrong' (Sky News, 2 July 2024, archived). 

·       Before the election, Wes Streeting said he was ‘confident' that he could ‘see off the threat of future strike action'. STREETING: ‘But I really feel confident that if we have a Labour Government a week today I will be able to pick up the phone immediately to the junior doctors, get talks up and running as a matter of urgency, and see off the threat of future strike action. And I'm particularly pleased that we've seen a deal cut in Wales. That gives me confidence that we can cut a deal in England' (The Sun, 29 June 2024, link).