NHS pay rises to end strikes can be funded without tax increases, says Wes Streeting
Labour’s plan to end the waves of NHS strikes would be to improve public sector pay – without having to hike taxes – by relying on economic growth, Wes Streeting has said.
The shadow Health Secretary said if the economy had grown under the Tory government there would be money to spend on public services “without having to raise a penny more in tax”.
Senior Labour figures, including leader Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Streeting, have urged the government to scrap its pre-conditions and continue talks with junior doctors.
Starmer said he would not get into “hypotheticals” about what Labour would do for a pay deal but argued doctors were making a “good case” for a pay rise.
Speaking on the third day of a junior doctor walkout, Mr Streeting told i it is “intolerable that the Conservatives have allowed NHS strikes to run into a second year, and at a time when the NHS is under more pressure than ever before”.
He told Mr Sunak and Health Secretary Victoria Atkins to “drop [their] pre-conditions, get around the table with junior doctors, and bring these strikes to an end”.
“There were no national strikes in the NHS during 13 years of the last Labour government. That’s because we treated staff with respect and, because we got the economy growing, we were able to pay them fairly,” Mr Streeting said said.
“Had the economy grown over the past 14 years by as much as it grew with Labour, there would be an extra £40 billion to invest in public services without having to raise a penny more in tax. That’s why Keir Starmer has made growth Labour’s number one priority.”
Labour are unwilling to offer a running commentary on what the party would do to end the current dispute – other than stressing they would be open to negotiations with unions.
But insiders point to a lack of growth as being an underlying cause for why pay deals have lagged behind the cost of living, triggering waves of industrial action.
Starmer told LBC there was “no doubt that the doctors and other health workers in the NHS make a good case that they are entitled to a wage increase”.
He said it was “frustrating” that both the Government and striking workers were hinting that there was a deal to be done but are refusing to resume talks.
“Get in the door, get in the room, get this deal over the line and get the NHS back working because millions of people are suffering as a result of this industrial action,” Starmer told ministers. “Don’t break junior doctors, talk to them. Get in the room sort it out.”
Pressed on whether a Labour government wold offer doctors more money, Starmer said he would “get in the room and negotiate” but added: “What I’m not going to do is hypothetically say what we might do if we were going in the room.”
Mr Streeting told i the Conservative government “failed to equip the NHS with the staff, equipment, and technology it needs over the past 14 years, and now strikes are making a terrible situation worse”.
He accused the Health Secretary of making “things worse by trolling overstretched, burnt-out doctors”.
“A junior doctor can have 10 years’ experience under their belt, while the Health Secretary has only been in post for two months. She should treat NHS staff with the respect they have more than earned,” she said.
There is also a feeling among some in Labour that Government is deliberately isolating junior doctors by singling them out and not reaching a deal with the cohort despite agreements with nurses and consultants.
The British Medical Association union of doctors is depending restoration of pay – an increase of 35 per cent – to reverse a real terms cut to income.
The union has said it would be open to a deal that would span several years but the potential for a change in government after the election could undermine commitments to future negotiations.
Ms Reeves, shadow Chancellor, urged ministers to get back round the negotiating table with junior doctors to “get the NHS off the floor”.
Asked by broadcasters if NHS England should be compiling a report on the damage caused by strikes, the shadow chancellor said: “The damage caused to our NHS is the damage caused by 14 years of Conservative Government.”
She said: “The Government need to get back round the negotiating table with junior doctors and others in the NHS so that we can get the NHS off the floor and be there once again to support patients.”
