Lords Bethell has rejected a claim that a planned 1% rise for nurses in England equalled a pay cut.
The health minister said millions of people were without work due to the pandemic, and nurses were “well-paid for the job” and in a secure role with “other benefits”.
He was responding to Lib Dem peer Lord Willis who said a “fair and sensible pay award” for people who had saved lives “should be a no brainer for this government”.
