Keir Starmer calls doctors’ pay deal rejection ‘reckless’ and sets 48-hour strike deadline
Sir Keir Starmer has described the decision to reject doctors’ latest pay deal as “reckless” by allowing a 48-hour deadline to end strikes.
The British Medical Association announced a six-day strike from 7-13 April just after the Easter weekend, as doctors called for their wages to be brought back to 2008 levels, representing a 26 per cent increase.
According to reports, the prime minister said he would withdraw ministers’ bids for thousands of NHS jobs if the strikes are not called off within 48 hours.
The proposal, which envisaged a 7.1 percent increase in doctors’ salaries, was rejected by the BMA last week. Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the union’s resident doctors’ committee of unilaterally rejecting the deal rather than presenting it to members.
Under this deal, he said, “basic pay for the most experienced junior doctors will rise to £77,348 and average earnings will exceed £100,000”, while first-year doctors will earn an average of £52,000 a year.
Don’t writeTimesSir Keir admitted the NHS will suffer if new attacks continue.
He said: “Withdrawing from this agreement is the wrong decision. It’s a reckless decision. And doing so without even giving junior doctors a chance to vote will make the situation worse.”
“Rejecting this deal does no one any good. Junior doctors will be worse off. Instead of improved pay, progression and support, they will receive standard pay awards this year, with none of the additional reforms to strengthen their working lives. The NHS will be made worse off. Each strike costs the NHS £250 million in security deposits. And patients will be worse off too.
“Of course we will do everything we can to protect care. But it would be wrong to pretend there is no impact.”
Under the agreement, Mr Streeting said salaries would be increased and at least 4,000 and up to 4,500 additional specialist training positions would be created over the next three years.
But the health minister warned that if the BMA rejected the deal the offer of training places would be withdrawn. He told the House of Commons on Wednesday: “There is no culture of nothing in vain here.”
He said the government was “planning on the basis of a protracted conflict” in Iran and as a result could not offer more to junior doctors in a future deal.
The junior doctors’ 15th strike action since 2023 will be the longest strike in the dispute.
Response to the Prime Minister’s statements TimesBMA junior doctors committee chairman Dr. Jack Fletcher accused the government of “moving the goalposts” in pay negotiations and warned cutting staff would be “bad” for patients.
He added: “These negotiations are not about arbitrary cuts, as the Prime Minister seems to think. Once a credible and sustainable offer is on the table, any ‘deadline’ disappears. Our focus remains on securing a good deal for both doctors and patients, and we seek to meet with the government once again later today.” [Tuesday] “With the intention of reaching a meaningful outcome that would see the strikes called off and a pay agreement that we can support.”
