Tory minister hits back at criticism of 1% pay rise for NHS staff
Nadine Dorries dismisses anger over ‘pitiful’ planned increase by arguing that nurses ‘do their job because they love their job’
Nadine Dorries has shrugged off criticism of a proposed 1% pay rise for doctors and nurses by insisting that she was “pleasantly surprised” they were getting a wage hike at all.
Health unions have described the meagre increase as “bitterly disappointing”, while Labour has accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of being “too cowardly” to mention the NHS pay plan in his budget speech earlier this week.
But Mental Health Minister Dorries told BBC Breakfast today that she was “was pleasantly surprised that we were making an offer”, given that most public sector workers are facing a pay freeze.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
She added: “I was a nurse myself ... I became a nurse because I loved nursing. I hope that those nurses who love their jobs too will stay in the NHS and stick with us through what is a difficult time.”
Dorries’ comments have fuelled anger over the proposed pay rise for 1.4 million NHS staff in England, who as The Independent notes have been “pushed to the limit during the Covid crisis”.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Professor Dame Donna Kinnair said the “pitiful” 1% rise would amount to an extra £3.50 per week for an experienced nurse, and warned of a “backlash” from furious health workers.
The Times reports that the pay award “may amount to a real-terms pay cut”, with the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasting that inflation will rise from 0.9% to 1.5% this year.
But government sources “say that inflation is so low that 1% still represents a real-terms increase and that public finances are constrained”, BBC health editor Hugh Pym reports.
The pay increase rate is being recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body, with ministers due to make a final decision later this year.
Keir Starmer has added his voice to the calls for a heftier increase, tweeting an image of today’s Daily Mirror splash decrying the “insult to NHS heroes”.
The Labour leader argues in his post that “you can’t rebuild a country by cutting nurses’ pay. Give our Covid heroes a pay rise.”
Starmer’s party and other critics have also slated Treasury boss Sunak for failing to make any mention of NHS pay in his newly unveiled budget.
“No wonder the chancellor had nothing to say about the NHS,” said the Unison union’s health boss, Sara Gorton, in a statement.
The proposed 1% rise “is the worst kind of insult” for health workers “who’ve given their absolute everything over the past year”, and “the public will be horrified”, she added.
Responding to the criticisms, a government spokesperson said that ministers would consider the recommendations of pay review bodies, adding: “Pay rises in the rest of the public sector will be paused this year... but we will continue to provide pay rises for NHS workers.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
Why Bhutan hopes tourists will put a smile back on its face
Under The Radar The 'kingdom of happiness' is facing economic problems and unprecedented emigration
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
What does the G20 summit say about the new global order?
Today's Big Question Donald Trump's election ushers in era of 'transactional' geopolitics that threatens to undermine international consensus
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
UK cedes Chagos Islands to Mauritius, minus US base
Speed Read Mauritius has long argued it was forced to give up the islands in 1965 in return for independence from Britain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published