Sir Rod Stewart made a surprise call to a TV phone-in show to urge voters to give the Labour party a chance at running Britain.
Sir Rod Stewart made a surprise call to a TV phone-in show to urge voters to give the Labour party a chance at running Britain
The 78-year-old ‘Maggie May’ singer has hinted he is a long-time Tory supporter but told Sky News during a debate on the crisis facing the UK’s National Health Service he had abandoned his support for the Tories and wanted to see a change in the current “bloody government”.
Revealing he also supports nurses striking for a pay rise, he said during his unscheduled call on Thursday (26.01.23): “I personally have been a Tory for a long time but I think this government should stand down now and give the Labour Party a go at it.
“Because this is heartbreaking for the nurses, it really is heartbreaking. In all my years of living in this country, I’ve never seen it so bad.
“Go on the nurses, I’m on your side!
“This is a bad time for us in Great Britain, it really is – change the bloody government!”
Dad-of-eight Sir Rod also offered on his call to Sky News’ ‘Your Say’ segment to pay for “10 or 20” hospital scans after patients had spoken about enduring long NHS waiting lists.
Sir Rod said he had attended a private clinic on Thursday that was virtually “empty” and was prompted to call the show after hearing about the “ridiculous” situation in the health service.
He added: “There are people dying because they cannot get scans. Now listen to me, I don’t need the publicity, I just want to do some good things and this, I think is a good thing. If other people follow me, I’d love it.”
Sir Rod, whose wife Penny Lancaster, 51, works as a special constable for the police, called for the health service to be rebuilt with “billions and billions” of pounds.
He said he had called the show as he often has Sky News in the background while working on his model railroad, and broke into a rendition of his 1971 hit ‘Maggie May’ on the phone.
Sir Rod finished by saying: “I’m so proud to be British and I can’t stand it being in this way.”
More than 10,000 ambulance staff will join nurses in walkouts next month, as unions escalate strike action, with paramedics in eight services across the UK to stage fresh strikes on 6 February, 6 March and 20 March.
They will join tens of thousands of nurses walking out on 6 February, which will be the first time nurses and ambulance staff will strike on the same day.
In 2019, Sir Rod congratulated former Prime Minister and Tory leader Boris Johnson for winning the general election and said he thought he would “sort” the “muddle” over Brexit – but said he was “still a Remainer”.
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