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Tory Party chairman Greg Hands has been savaged after claiming Britain’s public services are “in great shape”.
He made the extraordinary comments despite NHS waiting lists being at a record high and teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants planning another wave of public sector strikes.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “What planet is he on?”
Hands made his astonishing claim while being interviewed on LBC.
He said: “I think public services are getting better. “We’re seeing far more nurses, far more doctors – 38,000 more doctors in the NHS since the Conservatives took over, there’ll be 50,000 nurses by the end of next year.
“Teaching standards are getting better, I think public services are improving.”
Hands added: “We’re dealing with the strikes at the moment but overall our public services are in great shape.”
Presenter Andrew Castle responded: “I find it absolutely extraordinary that you’ve said that.
“I don’t feel that myself and I don’t think my listeners would either.
Responding to the comments, shadow health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “He’s living on a different planet, isn’t he?
“That’s not what people who use public services are experiencing.
“We’ve got objectively the worst crisis in the history of the NHS, school budgets are on their knees.”
In a separate interview on Sky News, Hands was asked why anyone would consider voting Conservative in next month’s local elections, given the state of the country.
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