PM resists pressure over pay negotiation

RISHI Sunak was refusing to bow to pressure from health leaders and some senior Conservatives to negotiate pay with nurses to prevent further strikes.

The Prime Minister insisted on Friday that the offer given to nurses is “appropriate and fair” as they warned strikes will escalate without a better pay deal.

Four Conservative former ministers have urged Mr Sunak to back down, amid suggestions that asking the NHS pay review body to rethink their recommended deal could be a way out.

Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walk out again on Tuesday without a breakthrough after the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) first national action on Thursday.

Thousands of routine operations were cancelled but polling suggests the nurses’ action was being backed by the public amid a wave of industrial action.