Petition urges PM to give NHS staff a £1,000 bonus
A NATIONWIDE petition has been launched by a Rochdale councillor calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to award frontline NHS staff a £1,000 tax-free bonus.
The online petition has been started by Coun for Spotland and Falinge, Faisal Rana, who has been leading efforts locally to support doctors, nurses and support staff who are battling the Coronavirus pandemic.
He has been busy delivering ready meals to hospital staff and his Shell garage on Queensway in Rochdale is offering free sandwiches to NHS workers.
Coun Rana said: “Our wonderful doctors, nurses, porters and cleaners are putting their lives on the line every day to save ours. What they are doing is extraordinary. But surely, they deserve more than just our applause every Thursday evening.
“I’ve launched this petition to persuade Boris Johnson to say a big thank you to the wonderful NHS family by putting a cash bonus in their pay packets. Their selfless devotion to duty in saving so many lives is priceless.
The least we can do is offer them a bonus as a small token of our heartfelt thanks.”
The petition, launched on website Change, reads: “The government is paying out billions to keep our economy moving.
“We also need to support our wonderful NHS staff in a real and practical way in their pay packets.
“It’s not enough to simply praise and applaud our doctors, nurses, cleaners, and porters.
“NHS staff are putting their lives on the line to save ours.
“Let’s show real support with a £1,000 cash bonus.”
To sign the petition, visit: www.change. org/p/h-mgovernment-pay-ournhs-workers-a-1000tax-free-bonus