Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy by Welsh Conservatives after he criticised the UK Government’s pay rise offer for NHS workers despite his own party’s government in Wales offering the same increase.
Appearing on Nick Ferrari’s LBC show this morning, Starmer said the pay rise is “not enough and not fair” and that “the (UK) Government has treated them (NHS staff) very, very badly”. He was answering a question from an NHS psychologist on a “Call Keir” segment.
However, Mark Drakeford’s Welsh Labour Government decided to give NHS staff the same 3% increase as the UK Government did for those in England. Both matched the recommendation of the NHS Pay Review Body and the Doctor and Dentist Review body.
In response to Starmer’s comments, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:
“Sadly this is not the first time that a UK Labour leader has, in pursuit of a cheap headline, contradicted their own party in Wales.
“Doing so on this important and emotive issue shows Starmer is either ignorant of the one Labour Government in Britain or is happy to sow confusion among voters.
“This itself begs the question of whether Labour actually thinks the pay rise is insufficient or have cynically chosen to play politics.”