Labour has pledged to scrap the pay cap
We know that the Tories have a laid back attitude to statistical accuracy, but Theresa May’s claims on NHS pay at PMQs today were particularly egregious.
Asked by Jeremy Corbyn about the one per cent cap on NHS pay — which has seen wages fall far behind inflation — May flatly refused to accept that NHS staff were losing income.
“I see today he is talking about paying for wage increases in the NHS. For people working in the NHS around half of those staff because of progression and basic pay increases will see on average an increase of four per cent.
You see what she did there? She took those people who earn more because they have developed their skills, built experience, gotten promotions or taken on tougher jobs, and suggested that they have been given a pay rise by her government.
The reality is that like-for-like work in the NHS has become consistently less rewarding under this government. Unfair pay restrictions, which only allow pay increases of one per cent or less regardless of inflation levels, have meant that the real-terms income of NHS staff has plummeted.
The TUC has calculated that midwives, nurses and ambulance drivers are facing real pay cuts of 9.3 per cent by 2020/21 and UNISON has warned that staff are already leaving the NHS because of the financial pressures they face/
| Occupation | Pay in 2015/16 | Pay in 2020/21 at RPI in 2016 prices | Real pay cut in 2016 prices | Real pay cut in 2016 prices |
| Midwife | £35,255 | £31,937 | -£3,288 | 9.3% |
| Nurse | £28,462 | £25,806 | -£2,656 | 9.3% |
| Ambulance driver | £19,655 | £17,821 | -£1,834 | 9.3% |
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has pledged to abandon the pay cap and give NHS workers a fair deal. Any party that claims to care about the NHS should do the same.
See: Hardworking staff keep our NHS going – they don’t deserve a pay cut
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6 Responses to “Theresa May is lying on NHS pay – the Tories have slashed health workers’ wages”
Martyn Wood-Bevan
I didn’t realise that it was ok for a Christian to lie and treat fellow human beings with such contempt. Puts me completely off going to church if that is the sort of person I’ll bump into…
Will
She lies through her teeth just like the rest of the contemptable low-life self-serving politicians. I try not to imagine her and her ilk toasting the success of her day with a glass of Pimms. She has nothing positive to say other than a complete pack of horse shit. It is really quite sad.
Michael
My memory goes right back to Gaitskell and Macmillan. I have never known a more useless politician , or PM than May or May not.
patrick newman
Tories are masters (and mistresses) of fake statistics and unfortunately few in the media and particularly in the BBC are equipped to challenge them on air. When Evan Davis left the Today programme it left no one who is competent in numeracy. The implication of May’s statement is that those who have reached the top of the grade – i.e. high value to the NHS – have to look forward to another three years of below inflation pay increases. She is unconcerned that will lead to even more staff going contract/agency – a high cost consequence.
Team T
Mrs May is not a Christian, though she claims to be a practising one. Politics and religion are a dangerous mix. Tories seem to say one thing, and then do the exact opposite. It’s as if they are saying, in effect “you know we’re crooks, we know we’re crooks, but we have to put on a respectable front for form’s sake.”
Iain Duncan Smith claims to be a devout Catholic, yet has pursued policies that crush and persecute the poorest and disabled and people with long term illness and depression. What would Jesus do?