Unions predict backlash over UK government plans to offer 1% pay rise to most NHS staff

They have spent the last year on the frontline of the Covid crisis – risking their own lives to save others.

But a day after the budget, it’s emerged that the government is recommending just a one per cent pay rise for most NHS staff in England this year – and that, say unions, will go down well with workers still coping with the horrendous stress of the pandemic.

In the latest government figures, a further 242 people are reported to have died with Covid, bringing the UK total to 124,025.

There have been another 6,500 new cases in the UK.

Just under 279,000 people received their first dose of the Covid vaccine yesterday, meaning nearly 21 million people have now received their first dose of a vaccine.