Rishi Sunak brands today's NHS ambulance strikes 'terrifying'

A former nurse today joined thousands of ambulance staff on picket lines, claiming she did so in anger at her mother's death following a four-hour wait for an ambulance. Tanya Palmer, from Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, told how her 77-year-old mother Christine 'lay unconscious on the floor for four hours because of the ambulance delays' after suffering a stroke and then passed away The 55-year-old, who was previously an NHS nurse but is now a regional manager for Unison, one of the UK's largest trade unions, said 'that's my personal story and why I am out today' Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has branded today's ambulance strike as 'terrifying' as Britons can't be sure an ambulance will turn up if they call 999 Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of prolonging the strikes and having 'broken the NHS' The spat in the House of Commons came as some 25,000 NHS ambulance workers downed tools today in an ongoing dispute with Government over pay Some strikers, like these at Maltby Ambulance Station in Yorkshire, mocked the PM over his idea of compulsory maths in schools to the age of 18 by asking if eight hour waits for an ambulance plus four stuck outside A&E was acceptable How many ambulance workers are striking? Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined striking ambulance staff on the picket line today Unison's £120,000-a-year leader general secretary and former Communist Party member Christina McAnea joins ambulance workers on the picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield today as staff across England and Wales walk off the job for 24 hours A new poll shows Brits faith that ambulances and the NHS at large will be able to treat them is low but it also revealed that over half of those surveyed blamed the Government for NHS staff strikes Only 13% of Brits trust an ambulance to get them to hospital in time with 69% preferring a car driven by themselves, friends or family As some 25,000 ambulance staff go on strike a poll suggests Britons' faith in the emergency service is at low. Ambulance workers on the Unison union picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield GMB ambulance workers on the picket line outside Bromsgrove Ambulance Hub in Bromsgrove Ambulances parked outside London Ambulance Service HQ in London this morning as Unison members of the service take part in strike action Some ambulance workers getting some support on the picket line outside Soundwell Ambulance Station in Bristol Rail union baron Mick Lynch boasts he is a 'popular person' despite signs of waning support for strikes - while drivers' chief tells MPs talks to end industrial action have gone BACKWARDS In a combative session before MPs, RMT chief Mick Lynch dismissed signs that public support for industrial action has been waning NHS managers have also expressed concerns that the new wave of walkouts would cause more 'significant disruption' than December strikes, leaving the health service in 'an even more precarious position'. More than a quarter were forced to queue for more than 60 minutes before handing over their patients to A&E Graphic shows the average response times for Category 1, 2, 3 and 4 calls to ambulance services across England, and, right, the average response time for each call compared to the target response time across all services Graphic showing the average time it takes for ambulance services across England to pick up 999 calls NHS AMBULANCE STRIKES LIVE: Unions announce they will not engage with pay review body - as up to 25,000 emergency workers walk-out NHS ambulance workers are striking again today after unions slammed 'bitterly disappointing' discussions with Government earlier this week 'Austerity, outsourcing and poor working conditions undermine public safety.