NHS pay: Tories could rue Lord Bethell's sneers on nurses' pay, says Andrew Pierce
Labour’s pledge to put No 10’s planned 1 per cent pay rise for nurses at the heart of its local election campaign could mean that one well-heeled minister’s nonchalant dismissal of the nurses’ case will come back to haunt the Government. ‘There are many people in this country who look upon professional jobs in the NHS with some envy,’ Health Minister Lord Bethell said last week. ‘Nurses are well paid for the job. They have a secure job and they have other benefits.’ Is Bethell, a hereditary peer, the right man to talk about nurses’ pay? He lives with his venture capitalist...