Tory MP Simon Clarke defiant after saying nurses using food banks ‘should budget better’
A former cabinet minister has doubled down on his criticism of nurses using food banks after his comments were branded “disgusting, heartless and out of touch”.
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, said the average nurse’s salary is £35,000 a year and that “is not a salary on which you ought to be relying on a food bank”.
“I’m afraid if you are using a food bank and you are earning the average nurse’s salary of £35,000 a year then something is wrong with your budgeting,” he told the BBC on Wednesday.
Mr Clarke, who earns more than £84,000 a year as an MP, has been rebuked by his successor Michael Gove, NHS staff and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – who are leading further strikes today in the dispute over nurses’ pay and conditions.
Mr Gove told Sky News: “I would never criticise nurses for something like that.”
Pat Cullen, the RCN general secretary, said: “To criticise anybody using a food bank is disgusting, heartless and dangerously out of touch.
“Sky-high inflation means some nursing staff are living on a financial knife-edge and even their own employer – NHS trusts across the country – are being forced to open food banks to feed their staff.”
However, Mr Clarke said he stood by his remarks.
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Tory MP Lee Anderson tweeted in support of his colleague: “The point here is that ANYONE (not just nurses) earning *MORE* than 30k, & are using foodbanks must have a budgeting problem.
“I have constituents i.e armed forces, bin men, bar staff, care workers, bus drivers, pensioners etc who can all live on less. Am I missing something?”
Mr Clarke said this was his point “exactly”, and that people earning £35,000 “shouldn’t need to use a food bank” except in “very particular circumstances”.
In another post, Mr Anderson said a member of his staff called Katy “is single & earns less than £30k, rents a room for £775pcm in central London, has student debt, £120 a month on travelling to work saves money every month, goes on foreign holidays & does not need to use a foodbank”.
However, the MP for Ashfield’s tweet was met with backlash by fellow social media users who accused him of using his employee to make a political point – while the hashtag “Poor Katy” started trending on Twitter.
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Govt treats nurses with ‘distain’
Nurses ‘pushed over poverty line’
While the average salary of a nurse is about £35,000, the majority of nurses are on a Band 5 pay rate, which has a starting salary of £27,055, rising to £32,934 over four years.
Matthew Tovey, a nurse and spokesperson for the campaign group NHS Say No, told Sky News those who earn £35,000 and upwards “are typically specialist nurses who have had further training – often university courses which incurs extra cost”.
He said nurses often come from university with “the excess of £50,000 worth of debt from training” while their pay packets are being squeezed by rising rents, mortgage rates, fuel and food prices.
“Some people the food banks typically see are student nurses, nurses working part-time, nurses being the sole earner,” he said.
“We are now on a knife edge to the spiralling cost of living. [Nurses] are queuing in bitterly cold weather for food and then working 12-hour shifts on the front line looking after patients with dangerous nurse to staff patient ratios.
“Nurses like myself are choosing between heating and eating whilst battling the worst conditions ever known to the NHS.
“I have seen first hand how nurses are being pushed over the poverty line and into food banks this winter. This MP needs to speak to constituents and go to his local trust and food bank to see.”
The row comes as thousands of nurses go on strike at more than 55 NHS trusts in England this week.
The bitter dispute over pay looks set to continue after Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said a 10% pay rise is “unaffordable”.
Ms Cullen – who is calling for a 19% pay rise but has said she would meet the government half-way – branded his comments “disappointing” as she joined the picket line this morning.
“Every nurse I have spoken to is deeply disappointed,” she said.
“They say this is just another move to turn their backs on the fantastic nursing staff that have kept us all going through a very, very incredible period, which was the pandemic and long before it.”
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10% pay rise for nurses ‘not affordable’
PM ‘should grab olive branch’
Ms Cullen called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to overrule Mr Barclay and “grab the olive branch” before further NHS strikes next month.
NHS leaders are making contingency plans ahead of the biggest walkout in the health service’s history.
Ambulance staff and nurses are set to both go on strike on 6 February – taking industrial action on the same day for the first time ever.
Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, has said the proposed walkouts are a “huge concern”.
She urged ministers to “get round the table with the unions urgently to deal with the key issue of pay for this financial year, otherwise there is no light at the end of the tunnel”.
One of the alleged gunmen in the killing of 15 people on Bondi Beach has been charged.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces 59 counts, including 15 of murder and a terror charge.
The other alleged attacker, his 50-year-old father Sajid, died at the scene in Sydney.
The charges came as people gathered for funerals three days after Sunday’s terror attack shocked Australia and intensified concerns about rising antisemitism.
Some 22 victims remain in hospital following the shooting, carried out at an event marking the start of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.
People look at flowers laid out for the victims. Pic: Reuters
At the first of the funerals, relatives mourned the death of British-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a 41-year-old father of five, who organised the Chanukah by the Sea event.
Often speaking through tears, his father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, expressed his “biggest regret” that he “could have done more” to tell him “how much we love him”.
“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” he added. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.”
Relatives of Rabbi Eli Schlanger next to his coffin during his funeral. Pic: Reuters
The father of 10-year-old victim Matilda, whose surname has been withheld at her family’s request, spoke at a vigil on Tuesday night.
Local media reported him as saying: “We came here from Ukraine… and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist.
“So just remember the name, remember her.”
A photo of Matilda. Pic: Reuters
Read more: Who were the suspected gunmen?
Police have said the two alleged gunmen – who were shot by officers – were motivated by Islamic State ideology.
A recent trip to the Philippines is under investigation. The older Akram used an Indian passport to travel, while his son used an Australian one.
The Akrams stayed at the GV Hotel in Davao from 1 November to 28 November, according to a source, who said police had visited on Wednesday.
The pair are said to have only left their rooms for meals and no one was seen visiting them.
Davao is in an area associated with Islamic extremism but a spokesman for the president of the Philippines said he rejected the claim the country is an “ISIS training hotspot”.
New South Wales to debate gun reforms
The Australian government and intelligence services have come under pressure because the alleged attackers were legally able to acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to toughen the country’s gun laws after its deadliest mass shooting in three decades, and the state parliament in New South Wales will reconvene next week to discuss reforms.
They include capping the number of guns allowed by a single person and making some shotguns harder to access.
State premier Chris Minns told a news conference: “We’ve got a monumental task in front of us. It’s huge.
“It’s a huge responsibility to pull the community together.
“We need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division.”
Mr Albanese has vowed to work with the Jewish community to “stamp out and eradicate antisemitism”. The prime minister has been accused of not doing enough to prevent its spread since the war in Gaza began two years ago.
Fellow world leaders have expressed their shock and anguish since the attack, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who hosted a Hanukkah event at Downing Street on Tuesday.
And speaking at the White House last night, US President Donald Trump said: “We join in mourning all of those who were killed, and we’re praying for the swift recovery of the wounded.”
A South African man, with eyes darkened by sleepless nights, tells us his older brother was lured into fighting for Russia on the frontline in Ukraine’s raging Donbas region.
“To them, it’s a suicide mission because they have never been trained for the military. They don’t have military training – they don’t have military experience,” says Bongani, whose name we have changed for his safety.
In the hidden back garden of a modest hotel in KwaZulu-Natal province, he continues: “They don’t have experience of any war. They are just bodyguards who want to get a job and provide for their families. That’s all.”
Bongani says his brother travelled to Russia on a flight via Dubai after being told he would be receiving bodyguard training along with at least 16 other South African men. After signing a contract in Russian, their fate was sealed.
Bongani, not his real name, tells Yousra his brother was on a ‘suicide mission’
“The problems started when they were moved from Russia to Ukraine, and they asked them: ‘Guys – where are we going now because we are here for training?’
“And then the Russians said: ‘Training for what? We don’t know anything about training – what we know is that you’ve signed the contract. You are under our command now – under the Russian army.'”
How is this happening?
Sky News has seen harrowing SOS video messages from South African men who describe entrapment and deployment to the frontline in Ukraine.
In one video, a man in military fatigues details the moment they signed their contracts. He claims Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, encouraged them to sign away their lives.
“We refused to sign the contract forms because it was written in Russia, which we didn’t understand. We asked them for a translator – someone who can translate the language. They said there was no network,” he says in fluent English.
“That is when Duduzile came with a guy by the name of Khosa. She said we must sign the contract because it is the same thing they did. Duduzile said she is doing the same course we are doing, the same training, and that unfortunately she won’t be with us because she is training somewhere else.”
“Yes, we agreed. We did sign the forms because we trust the lady, Duduzile.”
South African men claim they were trafficked by Duduzile Zuma, daughter of the country’s former president – allegations she denies
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is accused of trafficking South African men – including eight of her own relatives – for mercenary recruitment by her half-sister Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, who has filed police charges against her.
She denies the allegations and says she was a victim of deception, misrepresentation, and manipulation.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) say they are currently investigating the charges. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has resigned as a member of parliament and has not responded to our request for comment.
Former president Jacob Zuma with his daughter Duduzile Zuma, wearing “I Stand With Russia” T-Shirt in 2023. Pic: @DZumaSambudla/X
Five hours away in Johannesburg’s Gauteng province, we watched as another case of suspected mercenary recruitment played out in a South African magistrate’s court.
Five suspects were ushered out into a crowded courtroom in Kempton Park after being arrested on their way out of Johannesburg’s Oliver R Tambo airport following a tip-off to the police that they were allegedly travelling to Russia via the United Arab Emirates.
Five people suspected of attempting to join Russia’s war effort in Ukraine appear in a Johannesburg court
Among the five suspects is Patricia Mantuala, 39, suspected of recruiting the men
The line-up is sullen as the three young men on one end of the stand look down at their hands. The youngest is only 21 years old.
At the other end of the stand is a 39-year-old woman called Patricia Mantuala, who stands accused of recruiting them. The five suspects were eventually granted bail by the court after a postponed hearing.
Read more from Sky News:
G20 overshadowed by Ukraine
Alleged mercenary arrested in London
Is time running out for Ukraine?
Colonel Katlego Mogale, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the HAWKS, told Sky News and other journalists in a news conference that they are not ruling out the possibility that more suspects will be arrested.
South Africa’s specialised police unit is investigating a growing recruitment drive
Amid signs of a growing recruitment drive, the families of those who say they are trapped fighting for Russia in Ukraine are advocating for their loved ones to return home – against all odds.
“You are dealing with people who are well known in South Africa and in South Africa nobody’s safe and we may never know what’s going to happen next to us,” says Bongani.
“What’s going to happen to our family?”
World
Imran Khan’s sons ‘fear they may never see him again’ as former Pakistan PM ‘held in death cell’
The sons of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan have said they fear they might never see their father again as he is being “psychologically tortured” in a “death cell”.
Speaking to Sky News’ The World with Yalda Hakim, Kasim and Sulaiman Khan said they had not spoken to their father, who has been in prison since August 2023, for months.
Imran Khan’s sons being interviewed by Yalda Hakim
Kasim described the conditions the former Pakistani leader has been kept, saying: “He’s been in a solitary confinement cell for over two years where he’s had filthy water, he is around inmates who are dying of hepatitis, the conditions are disgusting and also he is completely isolated from any human contact.”
He continued: “It’s getting harder to see a route out at this point. We’re trying to have faith. But at the same time, right now, the conditions are getting worse.
“It’s very hard to see a way out… We’re now worried we might never see him again.”
Kasim said his father was being subjected to “psychological torture tactics” as even the prison guards weren’t allowed to communicate with the former Pakistani leader, who led the country between 2018 and 2022.
Imran Khan, pictured in March 2023 before his arrest on corruption charges. File pic: Reuters
Sulaiman said his father’s cell, where he allegedly spends 23 hours a day, has been described as a “death cell”.
He said an army spokesperson announced on Friday that Imran Khan, who has in the past been shot three times, was now officially in full isolation.
He added that Imran Khan was being kept in “completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international law for any sort of prisoner”.
The brothers’ words echo what one of Khan’s sisters reported after being allowed to meet the former cricketer in prison at the start of the month.
Uzma Khanum said at the time that Khan was facing isolation and psychological strain in prison following weeks in which his family said access had been blocked.
The former leader was jailed after being convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven following his ousting in a 2022 parliamentary vote.
Before launching his political career, Imran Khan was best known as a star of international cricket and for leading Pakistan to Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.
Kasim said his father would “never take a deal and leave all of his other party members in jail to die and fester in these jails…
“Instead he stays in those conditions, happy to rot and it means that he can move towards his goal of ridding Pakistan of corruption, a goal that he has stated to us a million times.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, a Pakistani government spokesperson, will be speaking to Yalda Hakim tonight on Sky News from 9pm.
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