Matt Hancock to give press conference today at 5pm after backlash over NHS 1% payrise

March 5, 2021

MATT Hancock will lead a Downing Street press conference today at 5pm after a huge backlash over the NHS' one per cent pay rise next year.

As part of measures to tighten the belt, pay rises across the public sector are to be paused from April, but NHS staff and the lowest paid will get a small, below-inflation rise.

The Department of Health said in its submission to the annual pay review bodies that "the Government will need to take into account the challenging fiscal and economic context" with pay awards.

Thousands have signed online petitions urging ministers to look again.

Militant unions today said they would consider striking over the proposed plans.

Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe from Unite, which represents over 100,000 healthcare staff, said: "Following yesterday's kick-in-the-teeth announcement that the Government wants to peg NHS pay at 1 per cent for 2021-22, Unite will be considering all its options, including the holding of an industrial action ballot, as our pay campaign mounts in the coming weeks."

This morning the health minister Nadine Dorries sparked fury by insisting the offer of a 1% pay rises for NHS nurses is the "most we can afford" despite their work on the Covid frontline.

And she urged nurses to "stick with us" despite the low offer – which amounts to just £3.50 a week – because of their love of the job.

But she was accused by industry chiefs of treating NHS workers with contempt.

She said the Government had to prioritise economy boosting and jobs-protecting measures like extending the furlough scheme over more money for health care workers.

The Department of Health said in its submission to the annual pay review bodies that "the Government will need to take into account the challenging fiscal and economic context" with pay awards.

Experts are predicting inflation to be 1.7 per cent next year, putting the pay rise way below that.

Unions and staff who have worked all hours to get the nation through the pandemic reacted with fury.

The BMA accused the Government of a “dereliction of duty”.

SLAP IN THE FACE

And Unite said it was "callous" and a "slap in the face" for the people who saved the PM's life just months ago.

Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said it was the "ultimate kick in the teeth to our NHS heroes".

Labour boss Sir Keir Starmer today said this morning: "you've got to reward those on the frontline who have been keeping our country going".

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