Minister seeks to ease job loss fears

HEALTH Secretary Wes Streeting can’t be accused of not practising what he preaches: asked by a member of his team if he wanted a soft drink on a visit to Leeds he made clear it had to be sugar-free.

- By ROB PARSONS

The Labour frontbencher was at the state-of-the-art Nexus centre in central Leeds on Thursday as he visited to unveil a new digital hub being opened for the UK’s drug safety watchdog.

And in an interview for The Northern Agenda he was at pains to insist the city remains central to his vision for the health service despite his government's controversial plans to abolish NHS England, which has a major base in Leeds.

Mr Streeting has said “there is something really special about Leeds” as he tries to reassure city leaders worried his planned shake-up of the NHS will lead to job losses and damage its status as a hotspot for health expertise.

He said: “When you look at the jobs that are based here in Leeds, a lot of them are digital, the data, jobs, that skills, expertise.