“It’s unacceptable for almost half of patients to be left waiting, often in pain and distress, for more than four hours in A&E over Christmas.

“After a decade of Tory mismanagement of the NHS, we went into the pandemic with record A&E waiting times, leaving us in the worst possible position when Covid struck.

“It’s not just that the Tories didn’t fix the roof while the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and removed the floorboards.

“Labour will secure the future of the NHS with the staff, modern equipment and technology needed to bring waiting times down.”