Junior doctors strike begins amid political conflict

Junior doctors across England have commenced a two-day strike over the ongoing government contract dispute, against a backdrop of political strife.

A full withdrawal of labour between the hours of 08:00 and 17:00 will be taking place today (April 26th) and tomorrow, with cover to be provided by senior doctors and other healthcare staff over this period.

Whereas previous strikes retained the provision of emergency care, this latest action represents the first complete withdrawal of labour in NHS history. It comes over health secretary Jeremy Hunt's decision to impose controversial new contractual terms.

Prime minister David Cameron has backed Mr Hunt's handling of the situation, describing the strike as "the wrong thing to do", but an Ipsos Mori poll for BBC News shows 57 percent of adults in England support the strike.

A cross-party proposal to pilot the junior doctor contract instead of imposing it was rejected out of hand by Mr Hunt, leading the British Medical Association (BMA) to lay responsibility for the strike at his door.

BMA junior doctors committee chair Johann Malawana said: "We offered a simple choice – lift imposition and the strikes would be called off, but unfortunately the health secretary simply refuses to do that."