Why nurses’ pay deal must be the exception

IF Project Fear’s scaremongers had been telling the truth before the referendum, there wouldn’t be a penny in the Treasury’s kitty – for NHS staff or anyone else.

The economy would be in the grip of the ‘immediate and profound shock’ they predicted, with wages at rock bottom, inflation rampant and dole queues stretching to the horizon.

As it is, yesterday brought the latest in a long string of encouraging indicators since the vote. Employment is at yet another record high, inflation is falling and real wages are climbing.

To put the icing on the cake, higher-thanexpected tax receipts have left the public finances in better shape than anyone dared hope. So, yes, at long last the Chancellor may indeed have strictly limited scope for generosity to the most deserving.

As few will dispute, nurses and lower-paid health workers fit that description. Indeed, this paper tentatively welcomes yesterday’s pay deal, which should help to ease the recruitment crisis afflicting the NHS.

But a word of caution. This exceptional deal must not open the floodgates to claims from other public sector workers.

Indeed, among yesterday’s figures, one stands out like a gaping wound. Britain is now paying a record £162million a day just to service our staggering £1.8trillion debt. With interest rates set to rise, a spending splurge would be devastating.

To his credit, Chancellor Philip Hammond acknowledges this threat, vowing his largesse will extend no further than the NHS. These coming months will be a test of his mettle. For the sake of all our livelihoods – in the public and private sectors alike – he must stick to his resolve.