London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Sep 14, 2025

BoJo’s paltry pay rise for nurses, the heroes of Covid, is a typical ‘divide and conquer’ tactic. It’s time for another U-turn

BoJo’s paltry pay rise for nurses, the heroes of Covid, is a typical ‘divide and conquer’ tactic. It’s time for another U-turn

The UK prime minister has defended a one percent pay rise for NHS nurses by pointing to workers getting no rise at all, pitting people against each other again. Maybe this time they’ll see through his divisive, diversionary ploys?
Boris Johnson has been defending his government’s plans. He’s done a lot of ‘defending of plans’ in the last year, along with a lot of ‘explaining of U-turns’ as he snakes and spins his way through the pandemic –⁠ in more ways than one.

The latest plan that’s needed defending is the one to give NHS nurses a measly one percent pay rise. It’s what is colloquially called a ‘dick move’.

Yes, these are the same nurses rightly being lauded for their frontline efforts during the pandemic and whom we were asked –⁠ including by Johnson himself –⁠ to applaud or bang baking trays for every Thursday evening during the first lockdown.

These are the same nurses who suffered real-term pay decreases during a decade of unnecessary austerity imposed by Johnson’s party. And whose working conditions have become so cruddy that there are more than 40,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS (equivalent to 13% of the total currently employed).

So, how did he try to convince these nurses –⁠ and the rest of us –⁠ that they should be happy with one percent and some raucous kitchen-utensil-based thanks?

He started by saying it was all the government could afford. A government that has spent hundreds of billions on the pandemic response –⁠ including, to dip into the Johnsonian lexicon, ‘spaffing’ tens of millions by giving contracts to their unqualified chums –⁠ couldn’t find a few quid more for people who are actually useful.

Knowing that this wasn’t enough, he then removed the ace from his crumpled sleeve.

“Don’t forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze,” he said. Nurses should be happy with little because the police, fire service, teachers and civil servants will get nothing.

This is the equivalent of cutting someone’s hand off and telling them to be grateful because everyone else had their arm cut off, then whispering to the one-armed that they should resent the merely one-handed for having two elbows, forcing the latter to defend their good fortune.

It’s the ancient tactic of 'divide and conquer’ or, as Johson would probably call it, divide et impera. (Did you know he speaks Latin? He doesn’t like to mention it.) And, of course, while they’re bickering with each other, neither group is pointing its remaining fingers at the people who are doing the chopping.

There are signs that it’s working, too. While senior nursing representatives are warning of strikes and of more staff leaving the profession due to the low pay, I’ve listened to radio shows on very moderate stations in which people have felt the need to angrily tell listeners that they have no sympathy for nurses because their situation is worse.

They’ve lost a job during the pandemic or had a company fold, they’re a prison or police officer whose pay won’t rise at all, they say. All are injustices caused by this irksome bug and no fault of their own, but they’re playing the government’s game and going for gold in the race to the bottom. My problems are bigger than your problems, so shut up.

It’s like Monty Python’s ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch, in which the eponymous quartet compete over who had the most impoverished childhood: “I had to work 29 hours a day down t’mill and pay t’mill owner for permission to come to work” and so on.

And as this infighting carries on among the populace, the government dishes out limbs to its pals and demands not even a fingernail from those who can afford it.

It’s a tactic familiar to Johnson and his colleagues. They used their “we’re all in it together” mantra post-2010 as they stripped public services, suppressed wages, and then whipped up anti-immigrant feelings so people had someone other than the government to blame for their austerity-driven misery.

The lingering ‘them and us’ rhetoric of Brexit, too, has split a nation, distracting it from the government’s removal of civil and workers’ rights, mismanagement of the economy, and trade-deal negotiations that would have been better carried out by the crack team of Larry and Dilyn – the Downing Street cat and dog.

And all the time, the rich get richer, the gap gets wider, and we start thinking our neighbours are selfish, racist or scrounging wankers.

It’s so obvious and yet it keeps on working. Why? Because we’ve been led so far down this tortuous rabbit hole of finding other ordinary people to blame for our woes that we too rarely look towards the people with actual power and influence.

Johnson’s standing has even gone up in recent polls because, ironically, the NHS and its nurses have been great at vaccinating people. A tragic record of pandemic mismanagement that made Britain a corpse-laden plague island seems to count for nothing.

It’s probably a hopeless wish, but I’d love for the government’s treatment of the nurses to be a unifying moment that forces it into an umpteenth U-turn. For ordinary people to finally refuse to play its divisive game, stick together and give it the finger. If they still have one.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
×