Caller brands Rishi Sunak 'patronising' after claims that nurses' pay rise is unaffordable

20 December 2022, 15:19

By Grace Parsons

This caller believes the PM "shows utter contempt for public sector workers", branding him "patronising" for claiming we cannot afford pay rises.

This caller says Rishi Sunak "shows utter contempt for public sector workers", and is "patronising" nurses by saying the pay rise they want is unaffordable when billions were spent during the pandemic.

Nurses represented by the RCN staged their biggest strike in NHS history last week over pay disputes and poor working conditions. Rishi Sunak has previously claimed that a 19% pay rise is "obviously unaffordable".

The caller, a teacher who has also voted to strike, told Shelagh Fogarty: "The NHS is so precious. We've got this ruse, this negative propaganda that we can't afford it...we can and we will."

He pointed out: "The government found £160bn during the covid pandemic...stop patronising those nurses and stop patronising other public sectors as well."

The teacher urged the government to "get to the negotiating table before it's too late".

"We've tolerated rampant and incessant neoliberalism for 10 years and now we want payback," the caller concluded.