Rishi Sunak hints at blocking public sector pay rises as he attacks ‘completely unreasonable’ doctors’ strikes
Rishi Sunak has hinted he will ignore recommendations for public sector pay rises, saying workers “need to recognise the economic context we are in”.
Reports surfaced over the weekend that the prime minister planned to block upcoming proposals from public sector pay bodies in an attempt to tackle soaring inflation in the country.
And health minister Helen Whately refused to commit to the uplift during an interview with Sky News on Monday morning.
Unions and opposition parties have hit out at the rumoured decision, saying inflation was not being driven by the wages of nurses and teachers, but by the economic decisions taken by the Conservatives over their 13 years in power.
Politics live: ‘Seriously?’ – Labour responds to lack of commitment on pay rises
Asked by broadcasters today whether public sector pay was a major driver of inflation, Mr Sunak said: “Government borrowing is something that would make inflation worse, so the government has to make priorities and decisions about where best to target our resources.
“And that’s why when it comes to public sector pay, we need to be fair, but we need to be responsible as well.”
Pay review bodies or PRBs take evidence from across sectors like the NHS and education each year, as well as submissions from government, before saying what wage rises should be introduced for the following 12 months.
Amid anger from unions about the figures failing to match inflation last year, Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted it was right for ministers to “continue to defer to that process to ensure decisions balance the needs of staff and the wider economy”.
The PRBs’ recommendations are expected to be published next month, alongside formal pay offers, with reports claiming they could be around 6% for the health service and 6.5% for teachers.
But while being questioned on public sector pay, Mr Sunak said: “It is important that we don’t make the inflation situation worse and it is important we prioritise the things that are right.
“I am making the decisions that are right for the long term and that is what I am going to continue doing.”
Government pay position offers Labour opportunity and challenge
The government’s wavering position on NHS pay presents Labour with both an opportunity and a challenge.
On the plus side, they can point to the fact the position of ministers seems at odds with what they were saying back in December.
Then, the government argument went that it was not for them to decide how much nurses, teachers, or police officers should be paid because this is determined by independent pay review bodies.
Now, they are suggesting the opposite – with health minister Helen Whately the latest to refuse to commit to following recommendations if the government judges they are not affordable.
Labour’s Emily Thornberry was withering in her interview with Sky News this morning: “I mean, seriously – do they really have a policy at all?”
Highlighting government inconsistency on political issues of this sort is exactly what you would expect an opposition party to do.
But it’s not entirely straightforward for Labour. They know there are questions that follow which could be challenging for the party.
Would they commit, for example, to following all pay review body recommendations in power?
Around half of public sector workers are covered by them (civil servants are not), but they are not binding, although Conservative governments have ignored their recommendations more than Labour did in power.
And given Labour agrees with the government that inflation needs to come down, and agrees with the Bank of England that interest rates needed to rise – how comfortable will they be supporting potentially inflationary public sector pay hikes?
The reports come while strike action by junior doctors over pay and conditions continues, with unions planning a five-day walk out next month.
Calling for pay restoration equating to a 35% rise, the British Medical Association (BMA) said wages had decreased by more than a quarter since 2008 when inflation was taken into account, and many doctors were burnt out from an increasing workload.
But when asked why he wouldn’t pay the profession more, the PM hit out at the industrial action and called the BMA’s demands “totally unreasonable”.
Mr Sunak said: “I think everyone can see the economic context we are in, with inflation higher than we’d like it, and it is important in that context that the government makes the right and responsible decisions in things like public sector pay.
“It is very disappointing that junior doctors have taken the decision that they have done. Over half a million people’s treatments have already been disrupted and I don’t think anyone wants to see that carry on – it’s just going to make it harder to bring waiting lists down.
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Labour MP Emily Thornberry has accused the government of “vacillating” between paying attention to public sector pay review bodies or not.
He added: “And I think people need to recognise the economic context we are in, and I am going to make the decisions that are the right ones for the country.
“That’s not always easy, people may not like that, but those are the right things for everybody, that we get a grip on inflation, and that means the government not excessively borrowing too much money and being responsible with public sector pay settlements.
“That is what I am going to do and I would urge everyone to see that is the right course of action.”
Last week, the Office for National Statistics confirmed inflation was stuck at 8.7% and the Bank of England raised interest rates to 5% – a 15-year high.
Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.
Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.
Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Syrian Defence Ministry in Damascus. Pic: AP
On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.
“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.
In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.
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Syrian presenter interrupted by Israeli airstrike
The Syrian armour was attacked as it entered the area around Sweida in the Druze heartland of southern Syria following factional fighting there.
The flare-up reportedly began with clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups that ended in scores killed.
The background to the escalation is complicated.
At least three Druze militia groups are divided in their loyalties to different religious leaders and differ over how they should respond to calls to assimilate into the new post-revolutionary Syria.
Druze from Syria and Israel protest on the Israeli-Syrian border.
Pic: AP
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Israel is becoming more and more involved in Syria’s internecine war and says it will remain there indefinitely “to protect our communities and thwart any threat”.
Its critics say Israel is operating a policy of divide and rule in Syria, weakening the fledgling government and creating a buffer zone to protect the border with the Golan Heights – originally Syrian territory that it has occupied and annexed for almost half a century.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has used airstrikes to destroy of much of Syria’s military capability weakening its ability to impose control on outlying regions. This makes it more not less likely Israel will have a volatile unstable state on its northern border.
Syrian security forces walk along a street in the southern Druze city of Sweida. Pic: Reuters
America and European powers have chosen to normalise relations with the new government in Damascus and lift sanctions.
In contrast Israel has occupied its territory, bombed its military and today hit one of its government buildings in the capital with an airstrike.
Since its crushing military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Israel has emerged as the unchallenged military power of the region.
There is however a limit to what blunt force can achieve alone. It requires diplomacy to achieve lasting gains and Israel’s repeated assaults on multiple neighbours combined with its relentless campaign in Gaza are winning it few friends in the region.
Israeli airstrikes have targeted the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus amid renewed clashes in the country.
The gate of the Ministry of Defence in the Syrian capital was targeted by two warning missiles from an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft.
State-owned Elekhbariya TV said the Israeli strike had wounded two civilians, the Reuters news agency reported.
Smoke rises from Syria’s defence ministry building in Damascus. Pic: Reuters
It came as Israeli airstrikes targeted security and army vehicles in the southern city of Sweida, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups – marking the third consecutive day Israel has struck Syrian forces.
The Israeli military confirmed it had “struck the entrance gate” in Damascus – and that it would be monitoring “actions being taken against Druze civilians in southern Syria”.
The Israeli airstrike targeted Syria’s military headquarters. Pic: AP
Why Israel is getting involved in Syria’s internal fighting
Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.
Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.
Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.
On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.
“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.
In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.
Local media said Sweida and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The clashes marked the collapse of a ceasefire between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups, with Israel also warning it would increase its involvement.
Syria said its forces had responded to being fired upon. Pic: Reuters
Israel said it was acting to protect the Druze groups through its attacks on convoys of Syrian forces.
Syria blamed militias in Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement which had only been reached on Tuesday.
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A statement from its defence ministry said: “Military forces continue to respond to the source of fire inside the city of Sweida, while adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents, prevent harm, and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes.”
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said the military will continue to strike Syrian forces until they withdraw and should “leave Druze alone”, according to local reports.
At least 20 people have been killed in an incident in Khan Younis, according to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israel and US-backed organisation.
In a statement, it said 19 people were trampled and one was stabbed in a surge “driven by agitators in the crowd”.
“We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas – deliberately fomented the unrest,” it said.
“For the first time since operations began, GHF personnel identified multiple firearms in the crowd, one of which was confiscated. An American worker was also threatened with a firearm by a member of the crowd during the incident.”
It provided no evidence to support the claim.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed 21 Palestinians were killed, “including 15 who died of suffocation as a result of tear gas fired at the starving people and the subsequent stampede” at the GHF site.
Read analysis: Deaths go up when aid sites open
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Gaza deaths increase when aid sites open
The statement is unusual for the GHF, as the controversial group, which has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups, rarely acknowledges trouble at its distribution sites.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the territory.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner. It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the UN has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
People carry distributed aid supplies in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. File pic: AP
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups – which refuse to work with the GHF – had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Read more:
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UN data on Gaza deaths ‘disinformation’, claims GHF chief
Since the GHF sites began operating, more than 875 people have been killed while receiving aid, both at GHF distribution points or elsewhere, according to the UN human rights office and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
At least 674 of those have been killed in the vicinity of aid distribution sites run by the GHF.
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