Alison Steadman slams the 'disgraceful' government's treatment of NHS

‘You can’t call it GREAT Britain anymore!’: Alison Steadman slams the government’s ‘disgraceful’ treatment of the NHS ahead of nurses strikes

Alison Steadman has said that the country no longer deserves to be called ‘Great’ Britain due to the current state of the National Health Service.

The Gavin and Stacey actress, 76, blasted the ‘disgraceful’ government for underfunding and disrespecting the service and failing to agree to talks with nurses ahead of strikes.  

Speaking to The Mirror she said: ‘You can’t call it Great Britain anymore, I don’t think. I love my country, I’m faithful to my country, but I do think over the last 12 years things have gone down.’

Speaking out: Alison Steadman, 76, has said that the country no longer deserves to be called ‘Great’ Britain due to the current state of the National Health Service

Alison, who is a patron of Keep Our NHS Public, went on to defend nurses and said that they were hardworking and underpaid not ‘greedy people who want a pay increase’.

‘There’s got to be something done. There’s got to be a negotiation. The fact that they (the nurses) are threatening to strike means that they’re really being pushed to the absolute limit and the government should be dealing with this.’

She added: ‘People are dying because they can’t get into hospital. We need more nurses, more doctors, more ambulance workers. We need more hospitals’.

Candid: She said: ‘You can’t call it Great Britain anymore, I don’t think. I love my country, I’m faithful to my country, but I do think over the last 12 years [of Tory rule] things have gone down’ (PM Rishi Sunak pictured) 

The Royal College of Nursing announced the first in a series of walkouts over pay will take place on Thursday 15 and Tuesday 20 December.

Health insiders have warned the disruption will cost lives, with a ‘bank holiday service’ causing delays and cancellations to everything from routine operations to chemotherapy.

It comes as NHS bosses warned the health service faces ‘its most challenging winter ever’ with the ‘tripledemic’ of flu, Covid and record demand on urgent and emergency services.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he ‘deeply regrets’ the walkouts but added that the demands – a 19 per cent pay rise – are simply ‘not affordable’.

Last month Alison spoke about finding out her father was adopted while appearing on DNA Journey, saying her family were completely unaware before.

The star revealed about the shocking discovery on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, saying she was ‘so upset’ to learn her grandmother wasn’t biologically related to her.

Speaking to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls last month, Alison admitted that she doesn’t think her father knew he was adopted and revealed none of her family were aware. 

Revelation: It comes after Alison spoken about finding out her father was adopted while appearing on DNA Journey, saying her family were completely unaware before

When asked what discoveries she was faced with on ITV’s DNA Journey, Alison said: ‘My father was adopted, which I didn’t know, none of us knew in our family.’

Her Gavin And Stacey co-star Larry Lamb, who appeared on DNA Journey with her and joined her on the morning chat show, said: ‘It knocked her sideways!’

Alison explained that her father was eight months old when he was adopted and said she was ‘so glad’ Larry, 75, was there to support her after getting the difficult news. 

‘I don’t think [my father] knew. He was eight months old,’ Alison continued.

‘I was so glad that I had Larry with me honestly because I was just so upset by it, I really was.’

‘I was so upset’: Appearing on the show with Larry Lamb, Alison admitted that she doesn’t think her father knew he was adopted and revealed none of her family were aware

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