Sir Keir Starmer vows to reduce NHS waiting times but fails to explain Labour's plan

Political correspondent Elaine Willcox quizzes the Labour leader on NHS waiting times.

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to reduce NHS waiting times across the country, but did not elaborate on how he will make it happen when questioned.

The Labour leader was speaking at a coffee shop in Bolton ahead of the first televised showdown of the General Election campaign with the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

He says the country has become "over-reliant" on overseas workers filling employment gaps in the NHS, rather than having a "plan to skill up in this country", adding "we have to break that."

But when the Labour leader was questioned on how his party would address the issue, Sir Keir failed to provide an answer.

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He said: "This is a frustrating NHS discussion. Of course, to fix the fundamentals will take time and therefore the government never does it. Every year we have an NHS crisis.

"The only certainty is that the next crisis is worse than the year before because nobody fixes the fundamentals.

"It does need reform and we are committed to reform. We need to get the waiting lists down and that's why we're pushing for an extra 40,000 appointments each week.

"We need an more preventative approach."

The global superstar Taylor Swift will soon perform three sold-out shows at Anfield Stadium as she arrives in the UK with her Eras World Tour.

When asked whether he was a 'Swiftie', Sir Keir said: "My daughter would be absolutely delighted if I went home today and told her Taylor Swift had endorsed the Labour party."

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