Keir Starmer mocked super-rich Rishi Sunak for "forgetting" to include the NHS in his new five pledges for the country.
In a fiery PMQs exchange, the Labour leader criticised the Tories for the record number of people on a waiting list for treatment as he suggested the multimillionaire PM would not accept such delays for his own family.
Mr Sunak made five promises on economic growth in a speech earlier this week. It raised questions he was replacing his five staple pledges, several of which he is failing to get a grip on, including stopping the boats and cutting waiting lists. Mr Starmer asked the PM: "This week, the Prime Minister unveiled the latest version of his five pledges for the country. Let's hope he has more success with these then the last ones. Did he forget the NHS?"
Mr Sunak responded: "Just weeks after becoming Prime Minister, we injected record funding into the NHS and in social care. We also unveiled the first ever long term workforce plan in the NHS's 75-year history. But I'm pleased he mentioned the five pledges because as he knows three of them are economic, on a day which we will focus on the economy. I'm pleased to report that we have indeed halved inflation. No thanks to the Party opposite. We have indeed grown the economy and we have indeed reduced debt."
But the Labour leader did not back down, hitting back: "The reason he ignored the NHS, not only in his new pledges but just now, is because 7.8million people are currently on the waiting list. That's half a million more than when he pledged to bring them down nearly a year ago. The Prime Minister just claimed that this is all about economic growth. So let me ask him if a labourer or a care worker is forced to wait a year for an operation, how are they meant to help grow the economy?"
The PM claimed Labour "wants to play politics" while the Tories "get things done". Mr Starmer added: "So raising the waiting list by half a million is getting things done? He's through looking glass, this one. I asked the Prime Minister how many people are waiting for mental health treatment? He knows the answer. He just doesn't want to give it: 1.2 million. 200,000 are children. Some waiting nearly two years to be seen. Would the Prime Minister accept those kinds of delays if it were one of his family or friends?"
The Labour leader raised the case of an NHS nurse who has struggled to find time to see her 14-year-old son Mikey. He said he has become seriously unwell and hasn't been able to be in mainstream education for over a year. He asked: "How does he think they feel when they see the Prime Minister refusing to take responsibility and boasting that everything is fine?"
The PM tried to dodge the answer by speaking about the wave of NHS strikes and claiming Mr Starmer did "not have the strength to condemn it", adding: "We're doing absolutely everything we can to put money into the NHS to bring down the waiting list because I do want families up and down the country to have access to the health care that they need."
Mr Sunak finally admitted he had used private healthcare earlier this year. After weeks of dodging questions, the Prime Minister announced he had used it "in the past" . But he added he is now registered with an NHS GP and is "proud" to come from an NHS family.