Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Sir Keir heads West and hits out at nurses’ pay
SIR Keir Starmer yesterday launched Labour’s South West local elections campaign in north Bristol – but made the centrepiece an issue councils can do nothing about.
The party leader and West of England mayoral candidate Dan Norris visited paramedics, crews and staff at South Western Ambulance Service base at Filton as they focused an attack on the Government over a “pay cut” to NHS frontline workers.
Conservatives say the suggested one per cent rise is a “real-terms” increase, while Labour insists inflation means it is a salary drop.
But councils and combined authorities have no power over NHS pay, which is set nationally.
Sir Keir and Mr Norris also admitted the party needed to rebuild trust with the public and highlighted how they were focusing on rural communities and farmers as much as urban issues in the elections on May 6.
Asked to explain why Labour had chosen to kick off a campaign with an NHS issue that no one standing at the polls can change even if elected, Sir Keir said the pay “cut” was a “real kick in the teeth” for frontline staff.
He said: “If you look across the South West you’ve got 117,000 people and their families who are directly affected by this.
“So wherever you are, whichever community you’re in, this pay cut absolutely goes to the heart of your village, your town, your city, your rural community, and that is why it’s so important to send that message to Government.
“A vote for Labour is a vote on behalf of our NHS frontline and there is little that many people feel so strongly about.”
Mr Norris said: “We are talking about it because it’s what matters to the people we are talking to in the campaign. They are very cross about it.
“They want us to say they’re not happy about it and that will reflect all votes for Labour on May 6 because people want fairness to the people who have looked after us so well during the pandemic.”
Sir Keir said: “We are making it absolutely clear that every vote is a chance to send a message against the pay cut the Government is proposing for the NHS frontline – paramedics and nurses who have worked so hard for the last 12 months – and the pay cut the Government is proposing is a real kick in the teeth.
“We have an excellent candidate in Dan Norris for the West of England metro mayor and we are fighting very hard in that race. This time around there is a real choice.
“Dan Norris will be out there actively speaking up for communities when the metro mayor [retiring Conservative incumbent Tim Bowles] has been almost invisible.
“So this is a real chance to vote Labour in May and make a material difference to the voice of local communities.”
Mr Norris said: “We hope to win, we are in no way complacent, we know we have to win trust and respect of all those communities in the West of England and the rest of the country and we’re absolutely determined to do that by showing we have good policies.”
Sir Keir became the first Labour leader to address the National Farmers’ Union conference a few weeks ago and said that what he told them applied very strongly now – that the Labour party was as much about rural affairs as it was about urban issues.
The other candidates so far announced are the Tories’ Samuel Williams, Lib Dem Stephen Williams and the Greens’ Jerome Thomas.