WATCH: Care workers are “heroes” and deserve recognition, says Labour

Lisa Nandy has described care workers as “heroes” who “deserve every bit of support and recognition like anybody else”, after the government released plans which exclude them from a pay rise.

In an interview with Sky News this morning, the Shadow Foreign Secretary explained that because the Chancellor has not given councils a new funding settlement, “care workers are unlikely to get a pay rise”.

The comments come in response an announcement that certain public sector workers will receive a boost to their pay to recognise their “vital contribution” in the pandemic – but workers such as nurses and care workers are not included.

Commenting on the plans, Nandy said: “Very much welcome it. There’s a real problem though, which is that local authorities haven’t been given a new funding settlement.

“Councils have obviously been on the forefront of dealing with Covid-19 – and that means care workers are unlikely to get a pay rise.

“They are people who have been dealing with an absolute crisis in care homes and supporting families through the hardest time.

“They’re heroes and I think they deserve every bit of support and recognition like anybody else. So we’d like to see the government set that right.”

Labour’s Anneliese Dodds has welcomed the announcement of the increase in public sector pay as “good news” but said that it “won’t make up for a decade of real-term pay cuts”.

Economists have calculated that once inflation is accounted for, public sector wages will remain below 2010 levels and the British Medical Association vice chairman told BBC Breakfast that its members feel “disappointed and let down”.

David Wrigley explained that “these are the sort of rises we’d expect to see in normal times, not in a time when many of us have not had a day off in six months and have been putting our lives on the line”.