No debating my support for strikers
IN 1978-79 a wave of strikes engulfed Britain in the so-called Winter of Discontent.
Horrified by the public sector chaos, I became a Conservative and remained so for decades.
Today I support one hundred per cent the strikers fighting to protect themselves against a Government hell-bent on cutting their pay.
Ministers denounce strikers as selfish, militant and irresponsible. They are none of those things.
Take our nurses. Every day, they care for patients with a spirit of service for which they are loved.
It was clearer than ever during the pandemic. Even the Government clapped for the NHS.
What stomach-turning hypocrisy that was. Nurses don’t want to be patronised. They want to heat their homes, eat properly and meet bills.
TIGHT-FISTED
Since 2018, over 40,000 nurses and midwives have left the profession, citing stress and pay.
Take our teachers. Tens of thousands of them are quitting because of the combination of workload, stress and low pay.
Rishi Sunak, with eye-watering naivete, talks of requiring students to study maths until they turn 18 when there is already a chronic shortage of maths teachers thanks to his tight-fisted Government.
We all know of stories of teachers, as of nurses, who skip meals or turn to foodbanks to survive. In one of the richest countries, it is an abomination that Conservative Ministers preside over this mess without embarrassment.
It is no good Ministers repeating the mantra that there is no money. To govern is to choose priorities. The Chancellor opted to spend money on pension tax relief for high-paid professionals. He and the Prime Minister are plotting to bribe people with tax cuts next year, hoping to buy an election victory.
I reckon most people would happily forgo a tax cut to see fair pay for dedicated professionals. Ministers should cough up now.