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Nurses' pay demand unaffordable - Labour MP Streeting
Labour could not afford the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) headline pay demand of inflation plus 5% if it was in government today, the shadow health secretary has told 91热爆 News.
Speaking on Wednesday, before thousands of nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on the first of two day-long strikes over pay, Wes Streeting told the 91热爆's Hardtalk programme Labour would at least be willing to talk about pay.
鈥淚 am particularly concerned about those people on the lower paid bands of the NHS, particularly nursing colleagues, but also wider allied health professions and auxiliary staff,鈥� he said.
UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay says the figure the RCN wants is "not affordable given the many other economic pressures that we face".
