How Labour leadership contenders plan to solve the junior doctors' dispute

Junior doctors are planning to strike across NHS England once again. The 37,000 medics, who are represented by the British Medical Association (BMA), rejected a new contract offer by 58% in July.

The government has since vowed to press on with its imposition of a new work agreement, while the BMA have reacted by announcing an all-out walkout on 08:00 to 17:00 BST between 12 and 16 September.

The row has been raging for months, so how would the two Labour leadership candidates solve it?

Owen Smith, who is hoping to dethrone Jeremy Corbyn, wants Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to be sacked "immediately" by Theresa May.

"If Theresa May refuses to take this necessary action, then the Labour Party should put a vote of no confidence in him as soon as Parliament returns," the former shadow work and pensions secretary said.

Smith also wants to scrap the planned junior doctors' contract and restarting negotiations with the BMA. IBTimes UK asked the leadership hopeful's camp if this means Smith supports a new work agreement between NHS England and junior doctors.

The proposals are part of Smith's ten point plan to "rescue" the health service. He also promised to increase spending on the NHS by 4% every year, funded through new taxes on the wealthiest and by reversing the Tories' planned reductions in corporation tax.

Corbyn's team, meanwhile, said there have been no changes to Diane Abbott's comments on the matter. The shadow health secretary urged Hunt to "stop posturing" and get back around the negotiating table.

"The crisis in the NHS is deepening, with closures of hospitals and key departments across the country while nearly all waiting times are rising," Abbott said.

"The government is not properly funding even a five-day NHS. A seven-day NHS is simply impossible without more resources. It is not too late to change course. Jeremy Hunt should stop posturing about imposing a junior doctors' contract, scrap it, and re-enter talks."

Corbyn committed to "re-nationalising" the NHS earlier in the leadership campaign. The left-winger's plans included an end to private finance initiatives (PFI) which "leak money away from front-line service", while restoring bursaries for nurses. IBTimes UK requested costings from Corbyn's team for the NHS policies.

A Jeremy for Labour spokesperson said: "Renationalisation will be a cost saving for the NHS. A very conservative estimate by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest put the cost of marketisation in the NHS at £4.5bn a year.

"Dr Jacky Davis and others have suggested the cost is more like £10bn a year. So even on a conservative estimate, significant savings will be made - and that is even before factoring the burden of PFI costs on the NHS."

Additionally, on nurses bursaries, the policy says: "We will reverse the abolition of nurses' bursaries, which produces no long term savings, but the upfront costs can be funded by the 1.5% corporation tax rise to also restore EMA and student grants."