As junior doctors go on strike, Jeremy Hunt goes missing

Up to 38,000 junior doctors are on strike today, with Jeremy Corbyn slamming their “appalling” treatment by the Government.

And while they lined up on cold January picket lines across the country this morning, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt spent hours avoiding the media so that he didn’t have to explain why he thought things had got to this point – the first major industrial action taken by junior doctors over 40 years.

After spending hours tracking him down, it wasn’t until after midday that Hunt finally agreed to do the bare minimum: a pooled television clip.

On the clip, Hunt said: “This is a completely unnecessary dispute. We have some disagreements with the BMA over pay.” Which, er, might explain why he’s been avoiding the media.

In fact, Sky News had such trouble getting a hold of Hunt yesterday, that they resorted to having to ask a senior official from NHS England where thought he was – only for an aide to try and stop them. 

Read reporter Darren McCaffrey’s remarkable account, and watch the exchange below:

Having spent all day trying to get an interview with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, I felt it was fair enough to ask his adviser where he was.

He had declined all interview requests, despite calls for him to answer questions from doctors and patients.

Instead, the UK broadcast media was offered a senior official from the NHS England by the Department of Health to do one interview for all of us.

But when I tried to ask Norman Williams, Mr Hunt’s senior clinical adviser, about why Jeremy Hunt was not answering questions and where he was, it lead to an uncomfortable exchange and an attempt by Department of Health press officers to alter the interview.

UPDATE: We know where he is this afternoon! He’s… oh. Oh dear: