Fury at NHS demo for pay

FRONTLINE NHS staff all over Britain have been protesting for better pay.

After a two-minute silence for the 640 healthcare workers who have died during the pandemic, demonstrators marched on Trafalgar Square.

Many wearing scrubs or NHS uniforms held banners which read “Stop clapping, start paying,” “Priceless yet penniless” and had images of Boris Johnson with blood on his hands.

Their call for a 15 per cent pay rise, mirrored at protests in Manchester, Sheffield, Brighton and Bournemouth, follows the exclusion of nurses from wage increases for 900,000 public sector workers announced in July.

It was argued the nurses are in the final year of a three-year agreement. Junior doctors also missed out as they agreed a four-year deal last year. Alia Butt, 33, a NHS psychotherapist in Essex, said: “The money is there. They are just not providing it to NHS staff.

“The Government hasn’t a clue what it is doing and that is very scary. Nurses saved the Prime Minister’s life. What more do we need to do to get paid properly? It’s bizarre.”

Jordan Rivera, 43, an occupational therapist in Hackney, East London, said: “How can we be expected to work through a second wave when we are physically and emotionally exhausted and worried about bills?”

Unite union said NHS staff should receive a 15 per cent pay rise or £3,000, whichever is greater to “restore the pay that NHS workers have lost in the decade of austerity.”

RAISED FIST: Angry protests in London