Public sector strikes always hurt the people most

Inflicting added misery and costs isn’t an unfortunate side effect, it’s the explicit intent of the BMA and the tube unions.

Far left activists are trying to push the BMA to illegal action

Junior doctors must not let their strike be hijacked by those who would prolong it for the sake of bringing down the Government.

Ben Spencer: Junior Doctors’ contracts – we must scrap our 1940s-style approach to employment in the NHS

The nationally-agreed contract has been nothing but trouble since its inception. It caused the last strike in 1975 – and should be consigned to history.

Cllr Andrew Brown: Doctors and the Government must prevent a strike

It is vital that both sides get back to the negotiating table, with mediators if necessary, to prevent action which will harm patients.

WATCH: Hunt responds to the junior doctors’ strike ballot

The Health Secretary attributes the overwhelming ballot result to a BMA disinformation campaign.

Paul Abbott: The graph that shows why Hunt is right about a Seven Day NHS

The BMA is a trade union that uses public pressure to bargain for higher wages. I don’t begrudge you that. But NHS reforms have to be fair to patients, too.

Iain Dale: Why are we rolling out the red carpet for Sisi – this abuser of human rights?

Plus: The Enemy Within rings me during my LBC programme. Back Hunt – defy the BMA. And: I want to buy Margaret Thatcher’s clothes.

Hugh Byrne: How junior doctors are making a mess of their case for more pay

There is a sense of entitlement that they should be carried along without any competition, meaningful performance reviews or a healthy fear of unemployment.

Neil Shastri-Hurst: As both a doctor and a Conservative, I ask: is the current NHS worth fighting for?

The current format of the service is no longer meeting the demands on it – a truth that neither the Government nor its critics are facing up to.

Hugh Byrne: The self-selecting media doctors are wrong about the Government’s seven day services plan for the NHS

Ministers are not suggesting that GP surgeries open all hours over weekends to sort out routine issues, but that the workload of urgent cases is more evenly distributed.