Labour has said denying NHS staff a pay rise in next week’s Budget would be a “kick in the teeth” after months on the frontline during the pandemic. Now it has been reported that Sunak’s wife one of the UK’s wealthiest women and the daughter of a billionaire businessman, took furlough cash for a buisness she owns.
The i newspaper reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will not include a pay boost for health workers in England, despite warnings it could cause an exodus among frontline staff.
Mr Sunak will not make any decision on salaries for NHS staff until he receives the NHS Pay Review Body’s conclusions, which are due to be delivered in May, according to the newspaper.
In response to the reports, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Our NHS staff deserve a fair pay rise.
“If Rishi Sunak next week refuses it will be kick in the teeth to our brave hardworking NHS heroes.”
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) added a low-level pay rise similar to that given to other public sector workers last year will not prevent nursing staff leaving after the pandemic, which would leave patients to “pay the price”.
It has been revealed in the Mirror that Sunak’s wife claimed up to £100,000 taxpayer’s cash to pay furloughed staff at her gym business.
Akshata Murty, 41, claimed the subsidy for Digme Fitness Limited when it closed its eight studios in London and Oxford during the Covid lockdown.
Figures released yesterday indicate that the company claimed between £50,001-£100,000 in furlough money during December.
She has a 4.5% stake in Digme Fitness Limited and is also a director of the firm.
Additionally wife of David Cameron, Samantha Cameron claimed up to £10,000 to furlough staff through her business operation.
Samantha Cameron Studio Limited, which runs her fashion label Cefinn is on the list of beneficiaries of the Covid job retention scheme.
Related: Budget: Denying NHS staff pay rise ‘kick in the teeth to our brave hardworking NHS heroes’
