Lifelong Tory Sir Rod Stewart says he's 'well on the side' of striking nurses
As stubborn Tories continue their battle with NHS staff over pay, Sir Rod Stewart has insisted nurses and doctors are right to strike.
And the star, until recently an avid Conservative, was joined by former Commons speaker John Bercow in demanding No10 put health workers first and cough up for a fair pay rise for their dedication.
Sir Rod also offered to pay for more MRI scans to get waiting lists down but revealed no departments are taking up the offer.
Speaking as a 48-hour nurses strike in England from next Sunday looms ahead of ambulance staff walk-outs, the 78-year-old said they were “absolutely right” to down tools until the stubborn Tories see sense and pay them what they are worth.
Sir Rod added: “I’m well on their side. I was absolutely with them, they come before anything.”
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Rod taking a selfie with a patient who had received an MRI scan (PA)The singer, who quit the UK to live in the US in the 70s due to high tax rates for the rich, told in January he had abandoned his support for the Tories and said it was time to “give the Labour Party a go at it” after 13 years of savage public sector cuts.
He added: “In all my time living in this country, I’ve never seen it so bad. And anything I can do to help. Poor nurses, I’m on your side.”
In February, Sir Rod appeared at a mobile MRI unit outside his local hospital Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex and paid for scans.
And he is now offering to do the same again. But the star said: “It’s like banging your head against a brick wall.
“People are crying out for MRIs, I’m willing to pay for them, 30 or 40 in a few hours, and I can’t get anybody to do it.” Former Tory MP Mr Bercow echoed Sir Rod’s call for a fair NHS pay rise.
And he accused No10 of only being interested in confrontation with the unions and striking workers, which also include Passport Office staff, university lecturers, teachers and civil servants.
Writing exclusively in the Mirror, Mr Bercow said: “Today I support 100% the strikers fighting to protect themselves against a government hell-bent on cutting their pay.”
And he branded the Tories hypocrites for clapping NHS staff and other key workers in the pandemic but now demonising the same workers who are only asking for a fair wage as inflation and energy bills soar.
Rod with wife Penny Lancaster (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Langan's)
Rod visiting a hospital in Essex (PA)Mr Bercow, a Tory MP for 22 years, is now a Labour supporter, told how he became a Conservative during the Winter of Discontent in 1978-79.
He added: “Tory Ministers, who always object to industrial action, denounce strikers as selfish, militant and irresponsible. They are none of those things.”
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Mr Bercow, who is contesting a panel’s finding he bullied senior staff, insisted there is money to pay for NHS pay rises, despite No10’s claims it would be too expensive.
Rod wants to fund more MRI scans but is struggling to book them (PA)And the 60-year-old slammed PM Rishi Sunak for giving wealthy chums a £1billion pension bung and plotting a general election Income Tax bribe.
As Speaker, Mr Bercow repeatedly clashed over Brexit with Boris Johnson when he was PM. Mr Johnson later withheld the peerage traditionally awarded to former Speakers.
The snub was criticised by Mr Bercow’s successor in the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
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