Sunak and Starmer both think they know where voters stand on the nurses’ strike

Prime Minister’s Questions was about as inconclusive as Steve Barclay’s meeting with the Royal College of Nursing on Monday, writes John Rentoul

Starmer thinks that the public will agree with him that it would be reasonable to pay the nurses a little bit more (UK Parliament/AFP/Getty)

Keir Starmer privately describes the NHS as his party’s “comfort zone” and vows that, important though it is, it will not be the main theme of Labour’s assault on the government. But needs must.

He didn’t want to ask about Rishi Sunak’s plans for asylum, because he broadly agrees with them. So he paused to acknowledge the tragedy in the Channel, and moved on. He didn’t want to ask about the economy, because this morning’s inflation figures suggest that the corner might be being turned.

So he asked about tomorrow’s nurses strike. “All the prime minister has to do,” he said, which sounded promising. Who could have guessed that there was a single, simple solution? “All the prime minister has to do to stop that happening would be to open the door and discuss pay with them.”