With a heavy heart, nurses across the country are going on strike this week for the first time in their history.

I’m backing their fight for fair pay but the dispute is also about securing better working conditions and improved patient safety.

Because a real-terms pay cut of up to 20 per cent since 2010 has seen a mass exodus, with those still in post under immense pressure to look after patients.

Nurses were among the NHS heroes we clapped every Thursday during the pandemic, including Rishi Sunak and the Tory cabinet. They helped save Boris Johnson’s life.

That applause from Conservative ministers now looks rather hollow given nurses and colleagues in the ambulance service are being forced to withdraw their labour.

Latest performance figures reveal the depth of the crisis across the NHS. And there’s no doubt the backlog caused by Covid is a factor.

But the fundamental issue is chronic underfunding during the Tories’ 12 years in charge.

NHS data shows that in October, more than 5,500 patients in my Weaver Vale constituency faced a wait of 28 days or more to see a GP. A further 11,800 people had to wait more than two weeks.

Sadly, it’s no surprise given the number of GPs has fallen to a record low. Since 2013, 4,600 GPs have been cut.

In November, Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust – which runs Leighton Hospital – only managed to ensure 57.8 per cent of A&E patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival.

The NHS target for such A&E waiting times is 95 per cent of patients.

Meanwhile, patients suffering suspected heart attacks and strokes across the North West – including Cheshire – waited an average 44 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. The target is 18 minutes on average.

This is mainly because of a logjam in the creaking health and care system that means too often ambulances are unable to respond to emergencies due to delayed handovers at hospital.

It’s all about priorities. The Tories are too busy protecting their rich friends, like allowing those with non-dom tax status who live in Britain, to pay their taxes overseas, costing the treasury around £3.2bn a year.

But we need doctors and nurses, not non-doms.

Labour would train a new generation of doctors and nurses, paid for by abolishing non-doms. Patients need doctors’ appointments more than the wealthiest need a tax break.