Boris Johnson was today forced to defend cutting nurses' pay by hundreds of pounds in the name of a “health and social care levy”, after openDemocracy revealed the true cost to NHS staff.
Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader Ian Blackford hauled the prime minister over the coals, saying the increased National Insurance contributions were a regressive tax that would worsen the cost of living crisis for low-paid health workers.
“Yesterday, openDemocracy found, as a direct result of the chancellor’s National Insurance hike, nurses will, on average, take a £275-a-year pay cut in April,” he said.
