Jess Phillips has reportedly claimed she received “quicker” NHS care because she voted in favour of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The Labour minister is said to have suggested her stance on the conflict with Israel had helped speed up her care when a Palestinian doctor treated her during a visit to a Birmingham hospital.
According to the Daily Mail, the Birmingham Yardley MP described how she went to a busy A&E with breathing difficulties during an event billed as An Evening with Jess Phillips at the Kiln Theatre in London.
She said: “I have genuinely seen better facilities, health facilities, in war zones, in developing countries around the world.”
She said she made it to the front of the queue which was “undoubtedly” for two reasons.
Jess Phillips has sparked controversy over the suggestions (Image: PA)
Ms Phillips said: “I got through because of who I am. Also, the doctor who saw me was Palestinian, as it turns out. Almost all the doctors in Birmingham seemed to be.
“He was sort of like, ‘I like you. You voted for a ceasefire’. [Because of that] I got through quicker.”
But the Labour MP’s claims have prompted a backlash on social media platform X.
Trade unionist commentator Paul Embery said: “If it is true that Jess Phillips – who is now a government minister – received preferential treatment in an NHS hospital because of both her status and her views on the conflict in Gaza, it would be an outrage.
“She needs to clarify the matter, and so does the hospital concerned.”
Academic Professor Matt Goodwin questioned whether there was a “two-tier NHS now”.
He said: “Wow. Labour MP Jess Phillips says she got preferential treatment on the NHS because of her Gaza views.”
Commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti: “Deeply troubling: Jess Phillips reportedly said she thinks she got preferential treatment in an NHS hospital because she voted for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Enormous ramifications for Jews being treated, never mind politicians who didn’t vote that way.”
Ms Phillips quit her frontbench role last year when Labour was in opposition to defy Sir Keir Starmer and vote in favour of an immediate ceasefire.
Ms Phillips was contacted for comment.
