Rod Stewart praised after surprising Sky News with bruising political message

Rod Stewart surprised everyone when he randomly appeared on Sky News to complain about the Tories and the NHS.

The singer phoned in to the broadcaster's "your say" segment discussing problems in the NHS and said he had never seen the country "so bad".

He said he was switching his alliance from the Tories to Labour and offered to pay for people's scans in the NHS to help amid long waiting lists.

"I've personally been a Tory for a long time and I think this government should stand down now and give the Labour party a go because this is heartbreaking for the nurses," he said.

"In all my of years living in this country I've never seen it so bad," he added. "Poor nurses, I'm on your side."

He said he had attended a private clinic on Thursday that was basically "empty" and was prompted to call in to the show after hearing about the "ridiculous" situation in the NHS.

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"There are people dying because they cannot get scans," Sir Rod said.

He pledged to pay for up to 20 scans "to do some good".

"If other people follow me I'd love it," he added.

He told the broadcaster the "NHS needs to be rebuilt with billions and billions" and that nurses who had been striking over the last two months over pay were "not asking for much".

He concluded his phone call telling viewers to "change the bloody government".

Here's how people reacted:

It looks like everyone is turning against the Tories... we'll get out our tiny violins.

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