JUNIOR doctors’ leaders accused the government today of clinging to political dogma as an excuse not to enter talks to resolve their historic strike.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she would only talk to the British Medical Association (BMA) if it calls off its six-day strike, which is the longest ever staged by the union.

In response, BMA council chairman Professor Philip Banfield said: “It is a political choice for this government to stick rigidly to its dogma of not negotiating while strikes are planned.

“In the past, the government waived this principle for the barrister strikes, so there is no reason for them to waste time and money by refusing to talk now.

“We are clear: we are ready to talk 24/7. Get back around the table, give us a credible offer and we can end these strikes right now.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer backed the BMA calls for talks, telling LBC radio: “I would say: ‘Get in the room and get on with it.’

“Don’t hint there’s a deal to be done and look at the door of the room you’re going to do the deal in and say: ‘I’m not going in first.’

“After all this, get in the door, get around the room, get this deal over the line and get the NHS back working, because millions of people are suffering as a result of this industrial action.

“Don’t berate the junior doctors, talk to them, get in the room, sort this out.”

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also urged ministers to return to the negotiating table with junior doctors to “get the NHS off the floor.”

Asked whether NHS England should be compiling a report on the damage caused by strikes, she said: “The damage caused to our NHS is the damage caused by 14 years of Conservative government.”

The latest spat came as figures published by NHS England yesterday showed that the number of flu patients had jumped by more than a third over Christmas, with more than 1,000 people in hospital with the virus in the run-up to the strike.

Covid-19 patient numbers also continued to rise, though norovirus levels appeared to have peaked in the week to December 31.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: “In winter, guaranteed to be one of the busiest times of year for the NHS, a double whammy of walkouts on top of sustained pressure, including more Covid-19 hospitalisations, is a perfect storm.”

The strike runs until 7am next Tuesday.