Thousands of doctors in England, United Kingdom, began a five-day strike on Friday over pay and limited training opportunities, marking the 13th walkout by medical professionals since March 2023.

The strike started at 0700 GMT and involves resident doctors, who are below consultant level and make up about half of the hospital workforce.

The Labour government’s health minister, Wes Streeting, criticised the action, saying the British Medical Association (BMA) leadership was “choosing confrontation over care”.

“This strike isn’t about fairness anymore. It’s about political posturing,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“We cannot and will not move on pay, especially not after a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the last three years and the highest pay award across the entire public sector in the last two,” he added.

The BMA stated that doctors still need a 26 percent pay rise to restore their earnings to the real value they had two decades ago. The union is also calling for an increase in training posts.

According to AFP, doctors revealed that more than 30,000 applicants are sometimes competing for only 10,000 training places, leaving many without a permanent job even after years of training.

The strike comes as the UK continues to face a prolonged cost-of-living crisis that has triggered walkouts across several sectors. (Nigerian Tribune)