Boris owes brave staff a lot more

It comes to something when Rishi Sunak can find £400billion for the pandemic, but only an eight-hundredth of that for a pay rise to NHS staff getting us through it. Britain’s doctors, nurses and paramedics have saved more lives than we will ever know. The porters, cleaners and support staff have also put their lives on the line to keep hospitals running.

Matt Hancock and the Chancellor reportedly did not fall out over the derisory one per cent pay offer. Why the hell not?

The Health Secretary should have screamed blue murder at the shabby way the workers he is responsible for are being treated.

Without their dedication and commitment, the successful vaccine rollout would fall apart.

Thanks to them, Mr Hancock has recovered something of his reputation tarnished by earlier failures over PPE and test and trace. A real-terms pay cut is the thanks they get. All his words of praise for our NHS heroes ring hollow now. And the words those heroes will be using about him are unprintable.

At a stroke, the Tories have crushed the morale of brave NHS workers exhausted by a year of battling Covid, and still grieving for colleagues lost because of it.

The one glimmer of hope is that this is not the end of the pay battle. It must still go before pay review bodies which independently determine what is fair and affordable.

Boris Johnson owes his life to the NHS. Now he must put his money where his mouth is.

By accepting in full whatever the reviewers recommend.