Streeting claims ministers not stopping health strikes because they expect "patients to suffer this winter" anyway MPs are currently debating a Labour motion on the NHS workforce. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, opened for the opposition and he said the NHS was facing “the worst crisis in its history”. He said: Seven million people are waiting for NHS treatment and they are waiting longer than ever before. 400,000 patients have been waiting more than a year. Heart attack and stroke patients are waiting an hour for an ambulance on average when every minute matters. 24 hours in A&E isn’t just a TV programme, it is the grim reality facing patients in an emergency. Behind those statistics, people are being held back from living their lives, people forced to give up work because they can’t stand the pain. Young people still bearing the scars of lockdown unable to get the mental health support they need to step into adulthood. Families losing loves for no other reason than the NHS was unable to treat them in time. It [the NHS] has now fallen over. For the first time in the history of the NHS, people no longer feel certain when they phone 999 or arrive in A&E that they will be seen in time. It’s the first time in our country’s history that people have not felt confident that emergency medicine will be there for them when they need it. The government … sent the NHS into the pandemic with 100,000 staff shortages. They spent a decade disarming the NHS before sending it into the biggest fight it’s ever faced. Streeting also claimed that the government was allowing the NHS strikes to go ahead this winter, instead of negotiating a settlement, because that would provide an excuse for wider failures with the service. He told the Commons Why on earth are they not sitting round the table and conducting serious negotiations? I will tell you why – they know that patients are going to suffer this winter, they don’t have a plan to fix it, so instead of acting to improve care for patients and accept responsibility, they want to use nurses as a scapegoat in the hope that they avoid the blame. We can see it coming a mile off. It is a disgusting plan. It is dangerous. And it won’t work. And if I’m wrong, perhaps members opposite could explain why the government is not trying to prevent the strikes from going ahead. In response, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said Wales, where Labour is in government, showed why the party could not be trusted on health. He said: [Streeting] said they have a plan in government. Well let’s look at that plan. More than a fifth of the entire population of Wales are waiting for planned care. Sixty thousand in Wales are waiting over two years. So we can see exactly what their plan in government delivers. Summary That’s all from our coverage of UK politics for this evening. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of all the latest from throughout today. A Labour motion calling on the government to release all documents related to contracts awarded to PPE Medpro, has passed. It comes after the Guardian revealed that Tory peer Lady Mone appeared to have received millions originating from the company’s profits, allegations she has denied. Labour leader Angela Rayner said “ministers must now confirm when, where and how this information will be released”. A further Guardian report has revealed that a second company over which Lady Mone allegedly lobbied ministers in an attempt to secure government Covid contracts was a secret entity of her husband’s family office. Stephen Flynn, the MP for Aberdeen South, has been elected leader of the SNP in Westminster, replacing Ian Blackford, who resigned last week amid reported disquiet about his leadership. Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black was elected as Flynn’s deputy. Flynn said he would be “relentlessly focused on standing up for Scotland’s interests and our democratic right to decide our future in an independence referendum”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has abandoned his opposition to the opening of new onshore wind farms amid a back bench revolt over the issue. While campaigning for the Tory leadership over the summer, Sunak pledged to scrap plans to relax a ban on new farms because of the “distress and disruption [they] can often cause”. Former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke, who led the rebellion, said communities ought to be able to decide for themselves whether they want a wind farm in their area. Ambulance crews at five ambulance trusts in England will stage a 12-hour strike over pay and staffing from 12pm on 21 December, the Unison union has announced. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has accused the government of allowing NHS strikes to go ahead this winter because wider failures mean “patients are going to suffer” anyway so it wants to use staff “as a scapegoat in the hope that they avoid the blame”. The chancellor will urge the UK’s largest banks to do all they can to support those struggling to pay their mortgage during the cost of living crisis when he holds his first talks with chief executives on Wednesday. Jeremy Hunt will host a roundtable with heads of major mortgage lenders, including Debbie Crosbie of Nationwide, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart and NatWest’s Alison Rose to discuss the impact of rising interest rates and living costs on customers. Richard Lloyd, the interim chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates and supervises mortgage lending, will also be attending alongside bosses from Lloyds, Santander UK and Barclays. Hunt is expected to tell them they should do everything they can to support borrowers, including through interest-only payments that could temporarily reduce their monthly bills during the economic downturn. Responding to the government’s decision to abandon its opposition to new onshore wind, the Liberal Democrats’ energy spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse, accused the Conservatives of having “dragged their feet for years” and said too many barriers to new farms remained. “Families and pensioners up and down the country could have saved money on their bills by now but sadly this is all too late,” she said. “Even this U-turn would make it far too difficult to get onshore wind projects off the ground. Renewable energy companies will face having to jump through hoops meaning we risk seeing a de facto ban on onshore wind remaining in place. “Millions of people are already struggling to heat their homes this winter, and the dismal failure of this government to invest in renewable energy has led to this crisis. “We need to see rapid investment in renewable energy including offshore wind, to cut energy bills and emissions in the long term.” Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s new Westminster leader, has said he wants to use the role to “put forward Scotland’s positive case for independence” while holding the government to account. Speaking to Sky News following his election win, Flynn said: “I’m looking forward to engaging with the prime minister… and making sure that he knows that the Scottish National Party in Westminster mean business. “We have a clear mandate for that second independence referendum.” He added: “Let’s not forget this cost of living crisis has not gone away. We have a democratic right to choose, but we also have to hold this UK government to account for their failings”. Asked why he had sought to replace his predecessor, Ian Blackford, who resigned last week amid reports of disquiet among his MPs, Flynn said that “far too many folk have been watching House of Cards”. Labour has responded to the news of a deal between the government and rebellious backbenchers that would allow new onshore wind farms to go ahead where local residents are in favour. Lisa Nandy, shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary, said: Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove are in office but not in power. Fresh from rolling over to their MPs on housing targets, they are now being forced into this position because they’re too weak to stand up to another backbench rebellion. We will need to see the detail, but if it is some sort of fudge that leaves in place a very restrictive system for onshore wind – the cheapest, cleanest form of power – [it] would continue to deny Britain lower energy bills and improved energy security during an energy crisis. The next Labour government will double our onshore wind capacity as part of our plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. While running for the Tory leadership over summer, the prime minister pledged that the current ban on new onshore wind would remain in place. The deal comes just a day after he was forced to drop compulsory housebuilding targets because a group of up to 100 of his own MPs threatened to oppose the policy. Second firm pushed by Michelle Mone was secret entity of husband’s office A second company that the Tory peer Michelle Mone lobbied ministers over in an attempt to secure government Covid contracts was a secret entity of her husband’s family office, the Guardian can reveal. Lady Mone’s lobbying on behalf of the company, LFI Diagnostics, which she tried to help secure government contracts for Covid lateral flow tests, prompted a formal rebuke from a health minister who reminded her of “the need for propriety”. However, it is the revelation that the company was a secret entity of the office that manages the wealth of her husband, Douglas Barrowman, that will deepen the controversy over the Tory peer and her access to ministers. On Tuesday, Mone’s spokesperson said that she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, adding she was doing so “in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”. Motion calling for release of PPE documents passes Labour’s motion calling on the government to release all documents and advice relating to contracts awarded to PPE Medpro has now passed. Responding to the news, Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, said: The Tories are out of excuses and have finally been shamed into conceding the release of these documents. Ministers must now confirm when, where and how this information will be released. This cannot be yet another Tory whitewash. Rishi Sunak was too weak to remove the Tory whip from Baroness Mone, leaving her to finally read the writing on the wall. This eyewatering waste of public money happened under his watch while he was Chancellor. He must act now to close the loopholes, ban VIP lanes, and give us our money back. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has congratulated Stephen Flynn and Mhairi Black on their election as the SNP’s leader and deputy leader at Westminster, describing them as a “truly formidable team”. Closing the debate on the Commons motion for the opposition, Fleur Anderson, the shadow paymaster general, says: The members opposite can either support today’s binding vote to force ministers to come clean or be complicit in the continuing cover up. The choice is theirs and their constituents are watching. No-one’s denying [that] we had to have fast procurement. That didn’t need to lead to all procurement procedures being jettisoned. It’s disappointing that ministers keep on defending [what happened]. If ministers don’t own this [and] admit it was wrong, they won’t make the changes, and it could well happen again. Stephen Flynn elected new SNP leader at Westminster, with Mhairi Black his deputy Stephen Flynn has been elected as the new leader of the SNP group at Westminster. Flynn, 34, a former councillor who represents Aberdeen South, will replace Ian Blackford, 61. Flynn said: It’s an honour to be elected to lead the SNP’s strong and talented team of MPs during such a crucial period for Scotland. Under my leadership, SNP MPs will be relentlessly focused on standing up for Scotland’s interests and our democratic right to decide our future in an independence referendum. Families across Scotland are paying a devastating price under Westminster control, with Brexit, austerity cuts and the Tory cost of living crisis hammering household budgets. SNP MPs will work harder than ever to hold the Tory government to account - and make the case that independence is the essential route to safety, fairness and prosperity for Scotland. In the election by SNP MPs, Flynn beat Alison Thewliss, the party’s Treasury spokesperson at Westminster. Mhairi Black, who was standing for deputy leader at Westminster as Flynn’s running mate, has been elected as Flynn’s deputy. She was once the youngest MP in the Commons and, at 28, she is still the youngest SNP MP. That is all from me for tonight. My colleague Christy Cooney is now taking over. Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary and the Tory who tabled the pro onshore wind amendment to the levelling up bill that prompted tonight’s government announcement (see 6.23pm) has welcomed Rishi Sunak’s U-turn. He said: I am delighted that the government has come forward with what is a really sensible package designed to return decisions about new onshore wind to local communities. Poll after poll shows this is what people want to happen. What I and fellow Conservative MPs have said is simply that communities ought to be able to make this decision for themselves, rather than have Whitehall rule it out. Onshore wind is the cheapest form of energy bar none and it has an important role to play as part of our future energy mix, alongside oil and gas, offshore wind, solar and nuclear. Unlocking its potential will strengthen our domestic energy security and help us to deliver our climate commitments in the fight against climate change. It is understood that Alok Sharma, the former Cop26 president, was also pressing for the de facto ban on new onshore windfarms to be relaxed, and played a part, alongside Clarke, in negotiating the new policy with Michael Gove’s department. Under the current rules, which have been in place since 2016, it is very hard to get planning permission for new wind turbines because they require near unanimous local approval. Only 16 new turbines were approved in England in the five years from 2016, a 96% decline in the number in the previous five years. The consultation on the new policy will run until March 2023, and after that it is expected to be included in the updated national planning policy framework by the end of April 2023.