Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has condemned people who are racist to NHS staff, stating that they "can and should" be turned away. He added “those people that have hijacked our flag for their mindless, racist thuggery - they have brought enormous shame on our country by attacking NHS staff in this way."

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Streeting's outrage comes after two Filipino nurses were attacked on Friday night as they travelled to work amidst the unrest in Sunderland. Over the past week, unrest and racially motivated rioting has continued to develop and escalate across the country. Following the tragic killings in Southport, far right rioters have responded with violence, xenophobia and racism. The government stance on the growing violence has been a “zero tolerance” policy, with Keir Starmer promising swift arrests and “rapid sentencing”. 

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The nurses were luckily physically unharmed during the senseless attack, where rioters violently pelted rocks at their taxi, leaving them feeling "terrified". In response, Streeting made the following statement: "I will not tolerate, under any circumstances, NHS or social care staff in any health or care setting being subjected to intimidation, harassment or racist abuse." 

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Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, condemned "mindless thuggery":

"I will not tolerate, under any circumstances, NHS or social care staff in any health or care setting being subjected to intimidation, harassment or racist abuse…

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We have a zero-tolerance policy in the NHS and we'll take a zero-tolerance approach in social care too."

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"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.”

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Streeting added that the country is "lucky" to have an NHS staff who "come from around the world to provide great, compassionate care...

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I am proud that we have those people in Britain. I think the vast majority of Brits are too," 

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It is clear that many of these attackers have targeted our social workers and carers.  Accordingly, GP leaders recently issued a warning to doctors and their teams, urging them to "remain vigilant, particularly when travelling to and from work" and even encouraging them to travel in groups. Residents, let’s keep all the victims of this senseless violence in our thoughts.

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