NHS consultants offer to call off strikes for 12% pay rise in apparent olive branch

Senior doctors hold placards in support of fair pay at a picket line outside University College Hospital in London in August. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Hospital consultants in England have offered to call off their strikes if they receive a pay rise of about 12% this year – double the increase that ministers insist is their final offer.

Their proposal, and the disclosure of recent “constructive” conversations with the government, appear to be a conciliatory move by the British Medical Association (BMA) to end their pay dispute.