The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer has slammed the Prime Minister today in the Commons over the 1% pay rise for NHS workers.
Sir Keir told Boris Johnson and MPs that the proposed 1% pay rise is in fact a “pay cut” with inflation, and is putting pressure on the PM to pay more to the NHS.
During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Si Keir asked Johnson who deserves a pay rise more, Dominic Cummings or NHS nurses.
Johnson did not answer Sir Keir’s question directly, but said we and the UK owe the NHS a “massive debt” and nurses salaries have risen in recent years.
The Labour leader told MPs that “My mum was a nurse, my sister was a nurse, my wife works in the NHS. I know what it means to work for the NHS. When I clapped for carers, I meant it!
“He clapped for carers, then he shut the door in their face at the first opportunity.
“And the more you look at the PM’s decision, the worse it gets. Because it’s not just a pay cut, it’s a broken promise too.”
He added, “Two years ago, he made a promise to the NHS, here in black and white, this document. It commits to a minimum pay rise of 2.1%.
“It’s been budgeted for and now it’s been taken away. He shakes his head, his MPs voted for it! So why, after everything the NHS has done for us, is he now breaking promise after promise?”
The Prime Minister replied with, “Under this government we have massively increased funding for our amazing NHS with the result, as I say, there are 6,500 more doctors this year than there were last year, 18,000 more healthcare workers and 10,600 more nurses.
“And we’re going to go on and we are going to deliver our promises.
“We are going to build 40 more hospitals and we are going to recruit 50,000 more nurses, and we are going to go on and deliver on our pledge to the British people.
“We are going to do that because of our sound management of the economy and because of the fastest vaccine rollout programme of any comparable country.”
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