During the worst of the Covid battle, those defending us were mainly women – which is exactly why they aren’t getting a pay rise now, writes James Millar.
After Boris Johnson made the short trip from St Thomas’ Hospital to Downing Street in spring 2020, he paid tribute to the nurses who stayed by his bedside and helped him overcome Covid.
Johnson may have gone, but the continuity Conservative administration that remains is now facing down the NHS over pay.
It is incredible, after all the medical profession has gone through this winter, never mind over the last three years, that governments in Westminster and Holyrood are quibbling over whether nurses ought to be able to afford Heinz rather than own-brand beans.
And it moves from incredible to icky in light of news that government minister Nadhim Zahawi is stumping up millions he owes the taxman. Small change to someone thought to be worth around £100 million. But even that valuation pales in comparison to the estimated wealth of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
We should always ask what the government is playing at, but particularly so in this instance. There’s a couple of likely answers.
The first is that it’s a good time to have a stand-off with the medical profession. The public inquiry into the pandemic will finally creak into life this year, spewing forth endless tales of heroism and humanity on the hospital floor, contrasted with inaction, incompetence and inanity in Downing Street. If the public are broadly on the side of nurses, doctors and paramedics now, they will be fully in support as the inquiry unfolds.
The second is that endless thread running through policymaking – sexism and misogyny. The nation went to war with Covid-19, people died, sacrifices were made by everyone. But, unlike previous conflicts featuring guns and bombs, those wielding the weapons in this one – syringes, masks, a caring hand to relieve an otherwise lonely death – were overwhelmingly women, working as nurses, care home staff, doctors.
Those who did their duty deserve to be taken care of
The fallen of World War One didn’t get homes fit for heroes, but were recognised with statues and cenotaphs throughout the land. The effort that fuelled the Second World War was rewarded with the welfare state.
Those who went onto the wards every day during the worst of the pandemic, ill-equipped and unsure if they would catch Covid or pass it to loved ones as the death toll ticked up indiscriminately, receive little but a trip to the foodbank.
The reason there’s a gender pay gap is because women’s work is routinely devalued
The reason there’s a gender pay gap is because women’s work is routinely devalued. The current clash over NHS pay is the same principle writ large, encouraged and enforced by government.
The gender imbalance in public statuary could be rectified with a series of monuments to the fallen health workers who deserve not to be forgotten. And those who stood up, did their duty and survived should be handed the cash they demand and deserve.
James Millar is a political commentator, author and a former Westminster correspondent for The Sunday Post
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