Medics march for dead friends

PROTESTING NHS workers marched by candlelight past Downing Street before staging a vigil for colleagues killed by Covid-19.

The group – some wearing scrubs – walked from St Thomas’ Hospital, where PM Boris Johnson was treated for coronavirus, to Whitehall.

Angry at the Government’s response to the pandemic, their demands included more public funds for the NHS, improved pay for frontline staff, an end to privatisation in the NHS, and for social care to be provided by the public sector.

Nurse Iain Wilson said: “We are angry at how Covid-19 got out of control and more lives have been lost than they should have. We didn’t have to have delays, underfunding, and the Government ignoring advice and refusing to go into lockdown sooner.”

Assistant general secretary of public service union Unison Roger McKenzie said: “The NHS must be fought for against those who wish to dismantle it and the workers need to be paid properly and given the resources to get the job done.”