Wes Streeting has told the NHS should turn away racist patients and that he “will not tolerate” racist abuse against NHS staff. It comes as two GP surgeries in London closed their doors early today amid fears over staff and patients’ safety.
It comes as two Filipino nurses were attacked on Friday evening as they travelled to work to provide emergency cover during unrest in Sunderland.
According to reports, the taxi they were travelling in was pelted with rocks. While the nurses were physically unharmed the Mirror reported they were left “terrified” by the ordeal.
Streeting said NHS has a “zero tolerance” approach to racism.
He said: “The Government will not tolerate the continuation of this mindless thuggery by far-right agitators in our country…I was appalled by reports of violence directed towards Filipino nurses in Sunderland – these were nurses going into work to provide emergency care and their attackers bring shame on our flag and shame on our country.
“We have a zero tolerance policy in the NHS and we’ll take a zero tolerance approach in social care too. People who are abusing NHS staff can be turned away, and should be turned away, if that is the way that they are treating our staff.”
However, campaign group Don’t Divide Us called it “deeply worrying.”
A spokesperson said: “A rhetorical slip? Or testing the waters? Either way deeply worrying (if unsurprising) proposition to be coming from a government.”
More than half of Britons think Parliament should be recalled for House of Commons to respond to riots
YouGov
A new survey shows that 64 per cent of Britons think Parliament should be recalled to allow the House of Commons to respond to the riots.
Robert Jenrick accused of ‘stirring up some of the problems’ amid riot row
AngelaRayner has accused Robert Jenrick of “stirring up some of the problems” in recent days, after he suggested people who say “Allahu Akbar” should be “immediately arrested”.
Asked about the Tory former minister’s comments on Sky News, the Deputy Prime Minister replied: “People like Robert Jenrick have been stirring up some of the problems that we’ve seen in our communities.
“Actually, what we want to see is communities coming together, and the vast majority of the public want to see that.
“The Prime Minister is very clear that his number-one priority is to keep people safe and to keep our streets safe, and that’s why we’ve deployed the police to deal with the minority of people who think it’s acceptable to throw missiles at police, to attack police and attack hotels and attack businesses that are just trying to go about their daily lives.
“The public here have been afraid and scared by those minorities who have been shouting racist abuse, shouting abuse and hurling missiles at police.
“There’s no excuse for that and the police will do their exceptional job that they’ve been doing over the last couple of days to protect the public.”
Throwing missiles and attacking hotels is ‘not the way we do politics’, says Deputy Prime Minister
Angela Rayner
GB News
Speaking inside the Holiday Inn Express at Manvers, near Rotherham, which violent protesters stormed on Sunday, AngelaRayner said: “Coming on the streets throwing missiles at the police, attacking police, attacking hotels like this one here today is not a legitimate grievance.
“It’s not the way we do politics in this country and nobody should be condoning that.
“This is thuggery, this is violence, someone could’ve got seriously injured over the last couple of days and it’s no excuse for that, and people should stay away from it.”
‘Justice is being served’ with rioters already behind bars, says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer said justice is being served with some rioters already behind bars as the Prime Minister sent a warning to those causing “violent disorder” on streets across the UK.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister’s message to anybody causing violent disorder on our streets is clear – you will feel the full force of the law – and today, we are already seeing justice being served.
“Within a matter of days, some of the criminals involved in these riots have been put behind bars.
“This is just the start, with over 400 arrests, 120 charged and more people being hauled in front of the courts every day, our criminal justice system is showing violent thuggery has no place on our streets.”
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Read More: Wes Streeting says nurses can REFUSE to treat patients if they’re racist