As thousands of nurses walk out to protest what they see as a lack of sufficient pay, Tory MP, Simon Clarke, suggested that they simply better manage their budget. He extended this advice to nurses who use foodbanks.
The Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP went on BBC radio Tees to highlight that, in his eyes, the nurses receive a plentiful salary, sitting at an average of £35,000. He went on to say that something must be wrong with their budgeting if they are having to use foodbanks on such a salary.
He also states that the debate around this has “got out of hand.”
With all the tensions around service workers and the government, politicians and people alike were angered by Clarke’s comments, feeling that they were insensitive and out of touch. The general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, stated that Clarke’s advice was “disgusting” and “dangerously out of touch.”
She also said that a large number of nurses up and down the country struggle to make ends meet on their current salary.
Clarke’s statement was generally received as provocative in the political sphere, especially at such a fragile and divisive time in UK discourse.
