British rock singer Rod Stewart (78) claims to have been a supporter of the Conservative Party for a long time. In the meantime, however, he is so disappointed by their policy that he took an extraordinary measure: he spontaneously called Sky News on a live news broadcast and said that the health system was in such a “ridiculous” state that the government had better step down should.
“I was a Tory myself for a long time but I think this government should step down now and let the Labor Party do it,” he said on the show on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) crisis. “It’s heartbreaking for the nurses. In all the years I’ve lived in this country, I’ve never seen it so bad. If I can help in any way, I want to do it. Nurses, I’m on your side,” he said he continued in the unannounced call.
A visit to a private practice the day before inspired him to call the show. He was there for his annual cancer scan.
Stewart, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 and has since recovered, has offered to pay for several hospital scans for patients suspected of having cancer. “The clinic I was in was empty. And at the same time there are people who are dying because they don’t get scans like this,” he said on the show. He doesn’t care about attention, he just wants to do something good.
Rod Stewart also told the presenters that the NHS “must be rebuilt with billions upon billions”. He ended the call by saying, “Change the damn government!”
The tax-funded NHS health service is currently in a crisis, with many healthcare workers walking away from work to fight for higher wages and better working conditions. At the same time, waiting times for treatments have been at record levels for months. Tens of thousands of people currently have to wait more than twelve hours before they can be treated in emergency rooms. An agreement with the government is not in sight.
