The health secretary held a rally for Labour councillors and activists in Reading ahead of the council elections.
Wes Streeting, the Labour health secretary, gave a pep talk to councillors, activists and MPs at Prospect Park on Wednesday, April 8.
During the rally, he blasted the Green Party and their leader Zack Polanski’s history as a hypnotherapist.
He was accused of claiming that the treatment could help with breast enlargement, according to an article from The Sun in 2013, with Mr Polanski later saying that he never suggested that was possible and he had been misrepresented.
But that hasn’t stopped criticism of the Green Party leader.
Mr Streeting said: “For all of the hype about the Greens, who are running nationally a very effective Wizard of Oz operation, trying to present themselves as more powerful and bigger than they actually are.
“When you look beyond the big mask, what you’ve got is a pretty odd guy on a bicycle pretending that we can do breast enlargements by hypnotherapy.
“I’m afraid the Greens policies are not much more credible than that across the board.”
The Greens have been the main opposition party since the all-out elections in 2022, and currently have eight councillors.
In remarks to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Streeting made the case for why people should vote Labour to keep control of Reading Borough Council.
He said: “Reading is really important for the Labour Party. We’ve got a great council here, well-led, and we want to make sure that we keep the Labour Party in Reading.
“And look, we never ever take people’s votes for granted in this part of the world.
“We have got now three brilliant Labour MPs who were elected in Yuan Yang and Olivia Bailey’s case for the first time at the last election.
“Obviously, we’ve had Matt Rodda a bit longer, and we are beginning to see the impact that having a Labour government working with a Labour council is delivering for Reading, and we’re asking people to keep that trust and faith in us.
“I think it would be such a tragedy for Reading if having had a well-led Labour council for all of those years under the Tories, when they were having to deliver for residents against the backdrop of Tory cuts, it would be such a tragedy if now we’ve finally got a Labour government Liz Terry the council leader is getting the investment from the Labour government, it would be a tragedy if that was put at risk with people voting for Reform or the Greens.
“So we’re working hard to earn every vote. We’ve begun delivering the change that people voted for at the last general election, lots done, but lots more to do.”
During his speech, Mr Streeting also turned his fire on Reform UK.
He said: “Given the chance, they would dismantle the NHS, they don’t believe in it, they don’t value it.
“Nigel Farage said he would replace the NHS with an insurance-based system and that he’s up for anything, and for once, I actually believe him.
“Reading is a place where people from a range of backgrounds, faiths, and cultures contribute to the success of Reading and to the success of this country.
“And when Nigel Farage wants to say it [only] belongs to some of us, it’s the job of the Labour Party to combat that kind of racism and xenophobia, and make it clear that flag belongs to all of us.”
The Labour campaigners then fanned out to knock on doors in the Norcot ward.
Mr Streeting is the Labour MP for Ilford North.
