He’s got a nasty dose of hypocrisy
MINISTER: NURSES ARE DEMANDING TOO MUCH
A CABINET minister earning more than £150,000 has lectured skint nurses on their “remarkably high” pay claim.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris earns £84,144 as an MP and tops up his salary with an extra £67,505 as a senior minister.
But he refused to say if he believed nurses, on a starting salary of £27,000, should be paid as much as politicians.
He said it was “difficult to judge” if they were paid enough as it was not his “area of expertise”.
On their salary, the Daventry MP said: “Is that enough? Who can put a value on care like that?”
He also appeared to criticise nurses, who have voted to stage their first nationwide strike for better pay, over their “remarkably high” claim of 17.6%.
But Patricia Marquis, Royal College of Nursing director for England, said the Government had “failed to listen” to what nursing staff had been saying, adding that NHS services were “not safe”.
The RCN said nurses had been “pushed” to the point where striking was their only option.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, warned operations and appointments would be cancelled or postponed if strikes went ahead.
As the action loomed, Health Secretary Steve Barclay spoke to RCN general secretary Pat Cullen in “constructive” talks. A Department of Health and Social Care source said the talks did cover pay but the Government was “not negotiating”.
They were said to have discussed a “range of issues” including patient safety and working conditions.
PM Rishi Sunak said he shared “everyone’s respect” for nurses but the pay claim was “not affordable”.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan sparked fury on Wednesday when she said nurses usually only used food banks if they had been dumped or their boiler was broken. She said it on Sky News while wearing a £10,000 Rolex watch.
IT’S fair to say politicians don’t really get it when it comes to the row over nurses’ pay.
Today’s imbecile award goes to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.
He has dismissed the striking nurses’ demands as a “high ask” and points out they got a pay rise during the pandemic.
This coming from a man who earns £150k+ and has a generous expenses account on top of that.
It’s pretty easy to preach when you earn roughly six times as much as the people asking for more money.
This isn’t a case of being greedy.
Due to the cost of living crisis, nurses’ real terms pay is so poor that many have to use foodbanks to survive.
How can this be right?
We’re talking about a workforce who a couple of years ago risked their own lives just going to work every day to help save our lives.
The very least they deserve is respect, and a Government that pays them a fair wage.