Sunak: I’d love to give nurses a massive pay rise – but we can’t right now

Prime minister tells Piers Morgan he is proud of what he has done in first 100 days in office

Rishi Sunak has said he would love to give nurses a “massive” pay rise, but insisted the money needed to be prioritised in other areas of the health service.

The prime minister also reiterated that it was right to “stay the course” to control inflation, warning that high pay settlements made life harder for everyone.

Just days before nurses stage further strikes in pursuit of higher pay, Mr Sunak said: “Nurses should be an exception [to public-service pay restraint] and that’s because they do an incredible job for all of us and they demonstrated that during the pandemic.