A Tory MP has accused nurses using foodbanks of not budgeting properly.
The RCN branded Simon Clarke’s crass comments “disgusting and out of touch”.
Nurses are again on strike. Years of real-term pay cuts and soaring living costs have left many nurses struggling to make ends meet and even turning to foodbanks just to survive.
But wealthy Clarke today rubbed salt in their wounds by accusing the hard-up NHS workers of not managing their shrinking personal budgets properly.
The former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who earns £84,000 a year as an MP, sparked fury with his comments. They came as nurses began a 48-hour strike over pay and were even joined on picket lines by patients, one terminally ill.
Mr Clarke, who supported Liz Truss in her bid to become PM before she went on to crash the economy with her mini-Budget, said: “If you are using foodbanks and your average salary is £35,000 a year then something is wrong with your budgeting because £35,000 is not a salary on which you want to be relying on foodbanks.
“This debate has got out of hand, the average nurse’s salary is £35,000 and senior nurses earn up to about £47,000.”
The MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and former Levelling Up Secretary was branded “clueless and out of touch” by nurses in his own constituency. And while he was right about the average salary, that takes into account the wages of senior nurses while many less experienced staff are paid between £20,270 and £27,055 depending on their band.
Standing on the picket line outside James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, children’s nurse Siobhan Patterson, 33, asked: “Why didn’t MPs turn down their last pay rise? They should stay on the same salary and budget better.
“We’re paying for petrol, nursery fees. We have to pay to park at work, £25 a week. It is a struggle to make ends meet. If he thinks otherwise he’s on another planet.”
Royal College of Nursing officer Sarah Hughes said: “His comments are so out of touch, they bear no resemblance to the reality faced by nurses.
“I would love to see him come down to this hospital and work a nurse’s 12 hour shift and for him to survive on their wages.
“There is a foodbank at the hospital which has essential goods at low prices to help staff struggling to make ends meet.”
Paediatric nurse practitioner Cecilia Clark, 40, said Mr Clarke had “absolutely no idea how nurses are living day to day”.
She added: “He is basing his comments on a figure that is much higher than the majority of nurses are paid.”
Megan Mathews, 24, a nurse for two years, is paid £24,500. She said: “I haven’t had to rely on a foodbank but I understand how nurses, and there will be many of them, have to. It’s an insult to say we just need to budget better.”
Patient Claire Mooney, who has terminal cancer supported striking nurses outside Manchester’s Christie Hospital.
She said: “Nurses are run ragged, staying past their shifts, they’ve kept me alive. I am sure there is money out there, but the Government is just not giving it to the right people.”
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “To criticise anybody using a foodbank is disgusting, heartless and dangerously out of touch.
“Sky-high inflation means some nursing staff are living on a financial knife-edge and even their own employer, NHS trusts across the country, are being forced to open foodbanks to feed their staff.” Mental health nurse Victoria Khamfula told how she used foodbanks after working through Covid while pregnant.
The 38-year-old, based in London, said: “To say we cannot budget is an insult. People don’t know what we have to pay for.
“I went to the foodbank because I had to feed my children. For him to say I need to budget better is just appalling. I am upset and angry.” The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 5% above inflation. NHS staff in England have been offered a rise of £1,400 for all pay bands. Unions argue that is effectively a pay cut due to inflation.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has insisted that is “not affordable” as he appeared to rule out a 10% rise despite the cost of living crisis.
He was confronted on a visit to Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, North London, by furious A&E staff. Senior nurse Alicia Borja told him: “We have so many ambulances coming. We are always short of staff. Every day is a challenge.”
RCN chief Ms Cullen said: “Steve Barclay is desperately looking for new ways not to negotiate with nurses. The patients who joined picket lines see this as a battle for the soul of the NHS as much as it’s about pay rises. Hundreds of nurses told me today this strike is about discovering their voice after many years of being let down.
“With just as many nursing staff ready to head into the cold again tomorrow morning, the Prime Minister must ask himself why. Only he can set the NHS on a better path.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Rishi Sunak to step in to resolve the wave of strikes hitting the NHS.
Nurse Victoria Khamfula
A single mum of two and a mental health nurse in London, she earns around £24,000 a year.
She takes home around £1,200-£1,400 a month after tax and student loan. She does bank and weekend work to bring in extra.
Every month, she has to find £1200 for childcare, £1,000 rent, £80 council tax, £120 for energy, and £300 for food.
She drives to work so has additional costs for petrol, her graduate loan, nappies and clothing.
MP Simon Clarke
Former Levelling-Up Secretary Simon Clarke earns £84,144 as a backbench MP.
Like all MPs, his pay rose by £2,212 or 2.7% last April, from £81,932.
He was a Cabinet Minister for 49 days with Liz Truss. Prior to that, he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Secretaries of State were paid £67,705 on top of their salaries last year.
Records show the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last year received another £31,680 on top of MP's salary.
