‘This is going nowhere!’ Eamonn Holmes probes junior doctor as he vows to ‘keep striking’

Eamonn Holmes has told doctors that the strikes are ‘going nowhere’ after their six day walkout over pay began today.

Over one million appointments and surgeries are expected to be missed as junior doctors have walked out in the NHS’s longest-ever strike.

The strike, which started at 7am this morning, will include thousands of junior doctors, who make up nearly half of the doctor workforce in the NHS.

Talking on GBNews, Rob Laurenson, co-chair of the BMA (British Medical Assosiation) explained they will ‘keep striking’ until they reach a satisfying result.

BMA members are asking for a 35 per cent pay increase, to make up for below-inflation pay rises since 2008.

Laurenson said: “The cost of pay restoration is £1 billion and the government has spent £2 billion on all of the strikes so far.

“So they do have the money, they do have the ability. Just look at the workforce, look how difficult it is to see a GP, look how difficult it is to get an appointment at a hospital and it’s because we don’t have enough doctors.

“The government’s answer to that is to actually cut our pay and drive us away. It doesn’t make sense.”

GB News host Eamonn Holmes said: “Robert, I’m not a betting man, but if I was, this is going nowhere. Your difficulty my friend is how do you withdraw from this and look as if you’ve won?

“You’re not going to get 35 per cent. It doesn’t matter how justifiable it is, it isn’t going to happen. Get real. What are you going to do? What will you settle on?”

The BMA Co chair said: ” We’re going to keep striking until we get a credible offer that we’re able to put to our members and our members accept.

“We’re very happy to talk about restoring our pay over a matter of years, we’re very happy to do that over a period of time frame and we don’t necessarily need it all in one go.

“We’re happy to sit down and have a collaborative conversation with the government. But they’ve pushed us out of the negotiation room. They don’t want to talk with us.

“And the fact of the matter is the nurses rejected their pay deal. The nurses are still in dispute with the government and the government and to be honest, the whole country have.

“They have abandoned our nursing colleagues as well and they accepted.

“They were offered and imposed the real terms pay cuts, which is precisely why doctors will keep fighting and keep striking in order to see their pay restored.”