Letters: 'North Northants MPs failing miserably over mean-spirited NHS pay offer'

L-R: MPs Tom Pursglove, Philip Dunne, Philip Hollobone and Peter Bone outside KGH.

Do our local MPs support the Conservative government’s one per cent pay rise for the NHS?

That’s about £3.50 a week for a nurse.

The front page of last week's edition of this newspaper shows that our local MPs are eager to associate themselves with the planned reconstruction of Kettering General Hospital.

But their hospital happy-talk melts away quickly; their silence on the pay offer shows what they really think.

They probably think the same as Conservative health minister Lord Bethell who claims that NHS staff are already “well-paid for the job”.

They probably think NHS employees should risk their lives in return for wage packets that have lost over 10 per cent of their value since the Conservatives came to power 11 years ago.

No wonder there are over 40,000 nurse and midwife vacancies!

The Government say they are too short of money to give a decent pay rise to the NHS.

But they are perfectly happy to waste £37 billion on the useless test and trace system.

This system was recently criticised by the National Audit Office for having practically no effect on infection rates.

But it has cost £1,000 for every working adult in the UK, all for nothing!

Our three local East Northants MPs, Messrs Hollobone, Bone and Pursglove are united in their silence about all this.

They are also united in their enthusiastic support for Brexit.

They were happy to campaign for this, promising that our wonderful future outside the EU would free up huge sums for the NHS.

When they wanted our vote they promised us £350m a week extra for the NHS; now they offer a pay rise of £3.50 a week for the nurses.

Perhaps our MPs would like to explain where this Brexit bonus has gone?

Why can’t it us be used to give NHS workers the decent pay rise they so thoroughly deserve?

Despite widespread public support for a proper pay rise for the NHS, not one of our local MPs has spoken out in Parliament against the mean-spirited pay rise on offer.

Readers should remember that despite all their happy-talk about new hospitals, our local MPs have spent their lives voting against proper funding for all our services.

They fail to represent the interests of both the NHS and the opinions of most of their constituents.

Once again our local MPs fail miserably to do their job.

John Islip,

Kettering