Jess Phillips has reportedly claimed she received “quicker” NHS treatment because she voted in favor of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The Labor 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 an A&E department at a Birmingham hospital.
According to the Daily Mail, the Birmingham Yardley MP described how she went to A&E with breathing difficulties during An Evening with Jess Phillips at the Kiln Theater in north London.
She said: “I have genuinely seen better facilities, health facilities, in war zones, in developing countries around the world.
“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 Labor 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. Labor 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.”