Seeing traditional face of Toryism

WE live in a country where a footballer has set up a charity to feed hungry kids whilst our Prime Minister sets up a charity to decorate his grace and favour flat. This tells you all you need to know about the priorities of today’s Tory government.

Likewise they are telling us they can’t afford to pay nurses and other frontline workers a decent pay rise because of the strain on public finances, whilst at the same time doling out £37bn to friends to set up a track and trace system that was supposed to be world beating but has been little more than a Whitehall farce. It took them five whole days to identify one man who returned from Brazil.

In all the furore around the pitiful decision on nurses’ pay is the oft repeated lie that nurses have recently had a 12% pay increase. Some have benefited to that extent but the reality is that across the sector nurses have seen a 7.4% real terms decrease in their pay since 2010.

And it is nebulous to say, look how badly other workers have suffered. That they have is certainly true and many face an uncertain future. But treating people unfairly because other people are struggling can never be justified. Indeed the government should bolster the pay and security of all workers in recognition of the sacrifices and losses they have seen through no fault of their own.

We are now seeing the traditional face of Toryism. Blame the workers, let them carry the can and look after your mates. It really does show that when Johnson and Sunak were seen applauding in Downing Street last year it was really, as usual, the same old Tory claptrap.

Dave Anderson, Middleton in

Teesdale, County Durham