I want to read to you a tweet from Steve Barkley to the Health Secretary.
He says, The Royal College of Nurses is demanding a massive pay rise of 17.6%, an increase around three times the average settlement that millions of hard-working people outside the public sector are getting.
So he is saying you're demanding more than your fair share.
Where's your solidarity with the rest of the workforce who are accepting far lower pay rises than 17.6%?
Well, I think everyone deserves a decent pay rise and everyone deserves to be able to their houses and eat properly, you know, across their country.
I mean, we've seen strikes breaking out all across every area.
And I've got to say now as a health worker, we support the rail workers, we support the postal workers, we support the teachers going on strike, we support anyone fighting for decent pay.
And I think it's rich from someone like Barkley, who wouldn't have a clue what it's like to live on the salaries, not just nurses are existed on, but if you look at our porters and their cleaners.
And of course, MPs, they've been shy in taking pay rise after pay rise after pay rise in the NHS.
And I'll tell you what, look at that.
You know, look at the who's running the country at the moment.
I think the man is twice as rich as the king.
And Rishi Sunak, as a health worker, as a critical care nurse, we hold him personally responsible for the eat out, you know, eat out to help have debacle and put in the brakes on a circuit breaker lockdown that directly led to tens of thousands of people in this country unnecessarily dying of COVID because of late lockdowns.
So I think it's really rich when we're told by the rich that we can't, they can't afford to give us a decent pay rise.
So solidarity with anyone else fighting for decent pay at the moment.
