00:00Crossing now over to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who joins us now.
00:04Good to see you this morning, Mr. Streeting.
00:06Good morning.
00:06And I just get your reaction to the markets, because $10 trillion has been wiped off global
00:13stock markets since last Wednesday.
00:17We've just had some reaction from Beijing to that threat of additional 50% tariffs from
00:22President Donald Trump.
00:23They say they will not bow to blackmail, and they say if the U.S. insists on going its
00:28own way, China will fight to the end.
00:30What's your reaction to the global stock markets and this escalating rhetoric, this escalating
00:35trade war that we're experiencing and witnessing right now?
00:40Good morning.
00:40Well, a trade war isn't in anyone's interest, and whether or not we are directly involved,
00:46we will be indirectly impacted.
00:50And that's why the Prime Minister's thought to do three things.
00:54Firstly, it's not only to make sure we're at the best end of the U.S. tariffs already
00:59announced, but to make sure that we secure an economic partnership with the United States
01:04to further remove trade barriers.
01:06Secondly, to try and remove trade barriers with other countries, other trading partners
01:11across Europe, around the world, so that Britain stands for free trade and open trade.
01:17And thirdly, to make sure we're providing support for British industry to support them against
01:23what are very challenging global headwinds now.
01:26Heard that we support the car industry, as well as some of the announcements may support
01:30UK life sciences.
01:31There's more to come on that one.
01:33We were hearing about this oven-ready trade deal between the U.S. and Britain last week.
01:39That still hasn't materialised.
01:42Do we have a plan B?
01:44What are you going to be doing to supporting businesses in this country in the meantime?
01:50Well, I don't think we've ever over-claimed in that way on a trade partnership with the
01:56United States, but we are working really closely with our partners in the United States.
02:01Of course, America isn't our only trading partner.
02:04We've got the European Union, where we want to break down barriers to trade.
02:08We've got the rest of the world, where we want to make sure that the UK is engaged in
02:13what are some of the biggest emerging markets of the world, which are way beyond our continent.
02:21So, there's a lot going on on that front.
02:23But as I say, this is a challenging global backdrop, no doubt about that.
02:27And that's why the action and the leadership of the Prime Minister is showing, not just abroad,
02:32but here at home, is really important for British jobs and British industry.
02:35OK, Miss Street, I can see that you're in a GP surgery as we speak.
02:40That's because you're announcing 1,503 extra GPs have been hired.
02:45Where have these GPs come from and how are they being paid for?
02:50Well, bizarrely, when I came in, I inherited this odd and bizarre situation where we had
02:56patients struggling to get a GP at the same time as qualified GPs were struggling to find jobs.
03:01So, I said we'd put 1,000 more GPs onto the front line by the end of March.
03:06We've cut through the red tape of one of the initiatives to recruit staff to GP practices,
03:11cut through the red tape that stopped practices recruiting GPs, and we've put in place the
03:17funding necessary to make sure that we could deliver.
03:19And that funding is not just for this year, but for future years, thanks to the decisions
03:24taken by the Chancellor.
03:25So, I want to reassure GP News viewers on two fronts, really.
03:29Firstly, is that we're keeping our promises, and the NHS is on the road to recovery.
03:34But secondly, to reassure people that I'm not for a moment pretending it's job done, and
03:38the road ahead is still a long road to recovery.
03:41But I hope that with the announcement we're making today, people can see things are beginning
03:46to move in the right direction.
03:47And through the lack of complacency we're showing, I hope people are reassured that we know there's
03:55more to do, and we will deliver.
03:57Though, that you can't fix the front door of the NHS, you can't bring back the family
04:01doctor, which is what you're talking about, hoping to do, that's what you're announcing
04:05today.
04:06If you don't crack down on migration, if you look at the figures from the ONS, which I'm
04:11sure you're across, one in six new registrations in England are from overseas migrants.
04:16In some boroughs in London, over 40% of new registrations are from people who have arrived
04:22from abroad.
04:23And then you look at the ONS figures that say that the population is going to be up nearly
04:275 million by 2032.
04:29I mean, how do you plan to deal with this?
04:33Yeah, so obviously we talk a lot about illegal migration to our country, and some of the steps
04:39we've taken since the general election, like the big deportation flights, are important
04:45to tackle that problem.
04:46What we tend to talk less about, and I think we should talk more about, is our over-reliance
04:51on overseas recruitment to plug skills shortages in lots of parts of our economy, including
04:57the NHS and our social care services.
05:00And while I and many other people will be very grateful to people who come from overseas
05:05to work in our health and care services, who make a contribution to our country, I think
05:09we would all agree that net migration is far too high, and we need to do much more to recruit
05:16and retain homegrown talent in our country.
05:19And that is why I'll be taking steps with the Home Secretary to reduce our over-reliance
05:24on overseas recruitment.
05:25So what are you going to do to increase training and retain British doctors and British medical
05:32students?
05:33Because it's something like two-thirds of medics that qualified last year were from abroad.
05:38Yeah, and we've got this bizarre situation where graduates from UK medical schools are competing
05:48on an equal basis with overseas applicants for the same jobs.
05:53I think that is a crazy position for our country to be in, and as we speak, I am looking at the changes
06:00we need to make to put an end to that situation, so that students who are going through UK medical
06:06schools, that they're the people whose training we've invested in as a country, and they've invested
06:11in themselves, to make sure that they get those jobs that are available in our national health
06:16service, and then more broadly to make sure that we're, with the Education Secretary, delivering
06:22the skills and opportunities to recruit to a wide range of roles in our health and care
06:28services with homegrown talent to reduce our reliance on overseas workers, because we all
06:33agree that migration is too high. In order to reduce that over-reliance on overseas recruitment,
06:39we've got to invest in the skills and opportunities of our own people, and that's what this government's
06:43committed to doing.
06:44Can I ask you about this UK first? On the front page of many of the newspapers this morning,
06:48the first baby born after a womb transplant here in the UK. What's your reaction to that story?
06:56I mean, this is an amazing scientific breakthrough, and it will provide real hope to parents or
07:02aspiring parents, I should say, who may be given up on the idea they might ever be able to conceive
07:08and have their own child. Of course, there are other opportunities and options available,
07:12like fostering and adoption, which are wonderful. But this is a really amazing scientific breakthrough,
07:18and that's why this week what the Prime Minister's announced in terms of the Health Data Research
07:22Service will be really important for making sure that our NHS is at the forefront of the revolution in
07:28life sciences and technology. We want to see more of this innovation here in Britain, and we want to
07:34see it benefiting our national health service. So really exciting. And actually, against all the
07:39challenges in the NHS, this is one of the big opportunities for our country in terms of life
07:45sciences and medical technology, which can not only deliver better care and ground-breaking new
07:51treatments, it can also deliver great results in science. Mr. Streeter, I'm afraid we're out of time
07:54with you at the top of the hour, I'm afraid, but thank you for your time.
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