Sir Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors to accept a deal to avert “reckless” strikes planned for next week, saying it is “beyond belief” that they could go ahead while the NHS is in the grip of a “super flu” outbreak.

The Prime Minister said the NHS is in its “most precarious moment” since the coronavirus pandemic as figures showed flu cases are at a record level for the time of year.

Sir Keir wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian that the strikes planned for next week “should not happen”.

“They are reckless.

“They place the NHS and patients who need it in grave danger.

I believe in workers’ right to strike.

But the strikes next week planned by resident doctors should not happen, they place the NHS and patients who need it in grave danger.

A fair deal is on the table. My message to

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