Wes Streeting held a rally for Labour councillors and activists at Prospect Park in Reading ahead of the council elections.
He attacked the Green Party and its leader Zack Polanski over his history as a hypnotherapist. He was accused of claiming the treatment could help with breast enlargement in a 2013 article in The Sun; Mr Polanski later said he had been misrepresented.
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 are the main opposition locally since the 2022 all-out elections and currently have eight councillors.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Streeting urged people to vote Labour to keep control of Reading Borough Council and protect recent investment. 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."
He also targeted Reform UK, saying: "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."
On diversity and belonging he added: "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."
Labour campaigners then fanned out to knock on doors in Norcot ward. Mr Streeting is the Labour MP for Ilford North.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
