Mr Sunak chuckled in response to a remark
During an uncomfortable encounter with a woman, Rishi Sunak faced questions regarding the state of the NHS.
The Prime Minister was visiting Winchester.
In a video captured by Sky News, a member of the public implored Mr Sunak to return the NHS to its previous state.
As she shared that her daughter had waited for seven hours, he started to walk away.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer commented that the incident illustrated the Prime Minister’s lack of understanding of the challenges many people are currently facing.
During the interaction, Mr Sunak expressed his regret over the woman’s difficulties and defended his government’s actions concerning the NHS.
He highlighted a decrease in waiting lists in October and November of the previous year, noting these months had minimal strikes.
Mr Sunak said: “It just shows when there aren’t strikes we really can make progress. We didn’t last year because of all the strikes.”
The discontented woman, who was identified as a former NHS worker, told Rishi Sunak that he had the power to “put an end to it all”.
She urged him not to relocate A&E to Basingstoke.
At one point, Mr Sunak chuckled in response to a remark from the onlookers, concluding the interaction with a handshake between the two.
Mr Sunak proceeded with his visit to Winchester, a constituency held by the Conservatives, albeit with a slim majority over the Liberal Democrats.
Responding to the clip, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it “further reinforces I think what many people across the country think – that this prime minister doesn’t talk to people, doesn’t engage, doesn’t understand, what so many people are going through”.
He added: “We have a terrible problem with our waiting lists and that is why we have been really clear that we would get rid of the non-dom tax status where the super-rich don’t pay their tax in this country and use that to bring down those waiting lists.
“We have got a plan, we engage with people over our plan, we don’t laugh and walk away.”
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: “Out of touch does not even begin to describe Rishi Sunak’s attitude to the NHS.”
Exclusive footage of Rishi Sunak challenged this morning by a former health worker on the state of the NHS, – captured by an off duty @skynews camera operator pic.twitter.com/aN8QKTjnH4
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) January 19, 2024
On social media, Brits criticised Rishi Sunak and accused him of showing a lack of empathy.
One said: “On a walkabout, Rishi Sunak laughs in the face of a woman when she pleads with him to return the NHS to the fully functioning way it used to be and then walks off when she begins to tell him the story of her daughter’s health.
“Where is the empathy?”
Another commented: “As if he just walks off. This is not good, Rishi Sunak.
“But nothing surprises me about you; arrogant, out-of-touch and ignorant. The sooner we see the back of you, the better.”
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