NHS walkouts 'badge of shame for government', says Starmer

NHS walkouts 'badge of shame for government', says Starmer
NHS walkouts 'badge of shame for government', says Starmer

Arabnews24.ca:Monday 6 February 2023 07:24 AM: Widespread NHS strikes are "a badge of shame for the government", Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Labour leader made the comment as tens of thousands of NHS staff - including nurses and ambulance workers - staged the biggest walkout in the organisation's history in England and Wales.

Unions are demanding pay rises amid the ongoing cost of living crisis, along with improved conditions, but the government will not budge on wages, saying the current year's offer will not be increased.

Politics live: Massive day of industrial action hits NHS

Sir Keir said the public would be "absolutely flabbergasted that the government is still sitting this one out, not showing any leadership in the middle of a cost of living crisis, making the situation much worse than it otherwise would be".

He told broadcasters: "Nobody wants to see these strikes, nobody wants to be on strike - the last thing nurses want to do is to be on strike.

"What they do want is a government that can show leadership, get around the negotiating table and settle this dispute."

Earlier, the head of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, told Sky News her members had been "punished and left behind by Rishi Sunak".

She said further strikes this week would be called off if the prime minister came to the table and made a pay offer, but instead he has "turned his back on these nurses".

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Unite boss Sharon Graham also told Sky News she had "not had one single meeting on pay with the government", telling ministers to "stop the politicking [and] get round the table".

"Let's get this deal done," she added. "Put it out to the members and everybody can go back to work."

However, health minister and former nurse Maria Caulfield urged unions to call off the industrial action, saying: "There is a risk to patients the longer that strikes go on."

She told Sky News the "door was open" for negotiations on next year's pay settlement, adding: "We've got a responsibility to all taxpayers in this country and we've got a range of public sector workers asking for pay increases and every 1% increase is about £700m that we have to find to pay for that.

"And obviously, we've got COVID backlogs, we've got patients waiting for routine procedures, we've got one of the busiest winters we have ever had, with record levels of funding going into the NHS to try and manage services. So every percent of a pay increase takes money away from that."

But the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers - which represents trusts around the country - urged ministers to think again.

"I think that we need to recognise that NHS staff have faced soaring costs, cost of living has gone up, inflation has gone up, and the settlement from this year's pay review body was made at a time when inflation wasn't at the levels it's at at the moment," Saffron Cordery told Sky News.

"So I think it's really important that we focus on getting a deal for this year, as well as then thinking about what next year's pay deal looks like."

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