UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to ban strike action by doctors, accusing the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “out of control.”
Speaking on GB News amid a fresh five-day walkout by junior doctors, Badenoch said a future Conservative government would amend existing strike laws to prohibit medical professionals from taking industrial action. She claimed that repeated strikes have led to cancelled treatments and, in some cases, patient deaths.
“There have been 11 strikes in the past 18 months. These strikes are going too far,” she said. “Medicine is a vocation, not just a job. While doctors do vital work, these walkouts are now threatening lives.”
Badenoch urged Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to back similar measures and accused the BMA of becoming “militant.” She said the Conservatives had previously offered a fair deal that balanced doctors’ concerns with the need to protect public finances.
The proposed change would expand the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act, which already bars police, military personnel, and prison officers from striking, to include doctors.
“We’re stepping in with common-sense proposals to protect patients and the NHS,” Badenoch said. “This is about the national interest.”
The BMA has not yet responded to the comments.
