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Improving NHS GP services will be a challenge but it is one the health secretary will take “on the chin”, he told Sky News.

The government launched its 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, including moving care into the community, digitising the service and focusing on prevention rather than sickness.

Labour pledged in its manifesto to “build an NHS fit for the future”, including cutting waiting times and the “return of the family doctor”.

But since coming to power last July, 62 GP surgeries have closed, and 5.8 million people a month waited more than 14 days to see a GP compared with 5.4 million in the same period last year.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News health correspondent Ashish Joshi: “I take your challenge on the chin about trying to stop practices from closing, trying to stop GPs leaving the profession and to make sure people have an improving experience in general practice.

File pic: PA
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The 10-year plan will move services away from hospitals and into the community. File pic: PA

“That’s why neighbourhood health is such a big part of the plan.

“When I’m reporting back on progress, whether on GPs recruited or the fact NHS waiting lists are the lowest levels in two years, it’s not because I think jobs done, I’m not trying to do victory laps or overclaim what we’ve managed to do.

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“It’s more to report back to a sceptical public that actually, we are moving finally in the right direction.

“But I don’t doubt for a moment there is more to do and I take that challenge really seriously because we can’t succeed without GPs and the NHS will not survive and thrive without bringing back that family doctor relationship.”

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Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said the 10-year plan’s aim is to shift care away from under-pressure medical facilities and closer to people’s homes, while taking measures to prevent people needing treatment in the first place.

Core elements of his plan include a hugely enhanced NHS app to give patients more control over their care and access to more data, new neighbourhood health centres open six days a week and at least 12 hours a day, and new laws on food and alcohol to prevent ill health.

He said the government had already done much to turn things around, with new staff in mental health and general practice, 170 new diagnostic services, new surgical hubs, mental health units, ambulance sites, and “record investment right across the system”.

But he added: “I’m not going to stand here and say everything is perfect now – we have a lot more work to do, and we will do it.

“Because of the fair choices we made, the tough Labour decisions we made, the future already looks better for the NHS.”

Former Conservative health secretary and chancellor Jeremy Hunt told Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge there is “much to welcome” in the plan because “it’s actually very similar to the plan that was launched in 2019 under the previous [Conservative] government by NHS England”.

However, he said he has an issue with its “execution and delivery” as he accused the plan of failing to answer “how you deliver this promised land” because “there’s no extra money going into the NHS”.

Mr Hunt added that it was “a little bit unfair” for Labour to claim the Tories were the reason the NHS is “facing the worst crisis in its history”, pointing out COVID was “the biggest crisis in the NHS’s history”.

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Jon Ruben remanded into custody on child cruelty charges after children fell ill at summer camp

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Jon Ruben remanded into custody on child cruelty charges after children fell ill at summer camp

A man has been remanded into custody charged with child cruelty offences after allegedly lacing sweets with sedatives.

Jon Ruben, 76, of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday after youngsters fell ill at a summer camp in Stathern, Leicestershire.

He has been charged with three counts of wilfully assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning or exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

The charges relate to three boys at the camp between 25-29 July.

A general view of the scene in Stathern, Leicestershire, after a 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of administering poison at a summ
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The scene in Stathern, Leicestershire. Pic: PA

Ruben spoke only to confirm his name, age and address.

Police received a report of children feeling unwell at a camp being held at Stathern Lodge, near Melton in Leicestershire, last Sunday.

Officers said paramedics attended the scene and eight boys – aged between eight and 11 – were taken to hospital as a precaution, as was an adult. They have since been discharged.

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Police said the “owners and operators of Stathern Lodge are independent from those people who use or hire the lodge and are not connected to the incident”.

Leicestershire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, after officers initially reported the incident as having happened on Monday, only to later amend it to Sunday.

It is still unclear when officers responded and whether that is why the watchdog referral has been made.

Ruben will next appear at Leicester Crown Court on 29 August.

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‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

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'This shouldn't have happened': Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

A bishop who interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown – and told singers to “leave his house” – has formally apologised to the choir.

Jonathan Baker was filmed standing barefoot at a microphone as he criticised performers for making a “terrible racket” at St Andrew’s Church in central London.

Addressing the City Academy Voices choir directly, the bishop of Fulham said: “I write to apologise for the distress and offence I caused in bringing the concert to a premature end.

“This should not have happened … I also apologise for remarks which were made in haste, and which have understandably caused hurt and distress.”

The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down
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The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down

Mr Baker had demanded for the performance to stop because it was 10pm – and says he didn’t realise the choir had booked the church until 11pm.

In the statement obtained by Sky News, he added: “I have lived here on site at St Andrew’s for 10 years, for much of which City Academy has rehearsed and performed here.

“You have been, and continue to be, welcome – and I hope that you will be able to continue the relationship with us.

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“I can give you every assurance that the events of Friday evening will not recur, and I apologise again to performers (especially those unable to perform at the end of the evening) and the audience alike.”

The choir performed their last song
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The choir performed their last song

The choir was performing to a 300-strong audience in Holborn when the lights were suddenly turned off, with Mr Baker declaring the concert was “over”.

A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience.

The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close.

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Bishop
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Jonathan Baker has apologised

One member of the audience, who was attending with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke.

Benedict Collins had told Sky News: “This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a ‘terrible racket’. The people here had put their heart and soul into it.

“The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing – and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end.”

The choir told Sky News it was “upsetting” that they were unable to finish their show as planned, but “hold no hard feelings and wish the bishop well”.

A spokesperson added: “If anyone is thinking of joining one of our choirs, the City Academy Voices rehearse on Mondays in central London. Dressing gowns optional.”

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X criticises Online Safety Act – and warns it’s putting free speech in the UK at risk

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

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What are the new online rules?

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

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“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

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Why do people want to repeal the Online Safety Act?

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

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These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.

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