UK govt refuses to give way on pay as nurses, medics strike

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government says it will not offer more money to nurses and ambulance crews to end strikes that are piling pressure on an already overstretched health system. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration is under pressure to increase its pay offer to health care workers who are seeking big raises in the face of decades-high inflation. Thousands of nurses walked off the job Tuesday in their second 24-hour strike this month. Ambulance drivers, paramedics and dispatchers are set to strike on Wednesday and again on Dec. 28. Sunak said double-digit public sector raises would drive inflation even higher, which would “make people poorer in the long run.”