Apparently Health Secretary Steve Barclay is going to make a new offer to health unions, in his latest bid to end the NHS strikes in England.

But from the reports, it’s a rotten offer.

We’re hearing he’s offering a one-off payment – a bonus – of up to six per cent for 2022-23, coupled with a permanent pay increase of five per cent for the current financial year onwards.

That’s nothing like enough to cover all the money that NHS workers have lost since the Conservatives slithered back into office in 2010. Nurses have lost 20 per cent in that time.

And it won’t cover the increased costs that have been caused by inflation. You see, just because inflation goes down, that doesn’t mean prices do the same. Quite the opposite, in fact – they continue rising, just at a slower rate.

And nurses, together with all the other striking NHS workers, are struggling to make ends meet.

The impression This Writer has is that the government wants nurses to struggle and this is just another attempt to look reasonable.

Remember: MPs almost have parity with the level of pay they had in 2010 – they aren’t suffering in anything like the same way as nurses. And they get publicly-subsidised meals and drinks in the House of Commons facilities.

This Writer is glad to hear that not all of the 14 health unions are expected to support the new pay offer.

I’m aware that they may be tired of strikes, but derisory pay offers are an attack on the quality of healthcare and must be opposed.

Source: Government makes revised pay offer to health unions, reports say – UK politics live

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