Government refuses further pay talks as public support wanes
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned fresh strike plans by resident doctors.
He insists the latest pay demands are unjustified and risk derailing the Labour government’s efforts to rebuild the NHS.
Streeting said doctors had already received the most generous pay rise in the public sector for two consecutive years and accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of acting against the wishes of both patients and their own members.
“Patients do not support the proposed strike action and it doesn’t even command majority support among BMA resident doctors, less than half of whom actually voted for industrial action,” Streeting wrote in The Times.
“There are no grounds for strike action now.”
He added that doctors had just secured “the highest pay award across the entire public sector” and warned that further industrial action would hurt the public and the wider NHS workforce.
“The government can’t afford to offer more and it wouldn’t be fair to other NHS workers either, many of whom are paid less.”
Two years of record pay rises
Resident doctors received a 22% pay rise last year, which ended months of rolling walkouts. This year, the government awarded them a further 5.4% uplift – again the highest across all public sector workers.
Despite these increases, the BMA is pushing for a 29% rise, arguing that only such a figure would restore pay to 2008 levels in real terms.
In response, Streeting made clear that while the door remains open to discussions on working conditions, pay negotiations are firmly closed.
“I urge the BMA, even at this late stage, to reconsider this deeply damaging course of action. Work with a government that actually wants to work with you to improve working conditions for staff and care for patients,” he said.
Public opinion turns sharply
The BMA’s demands come at a time of declining public support for further strike action. A representative survey of 2,054 adults by the Good Growth Foundation found that only 21% of the public now support junior doctor strikes, a dramatic drop from the majority backing seen last year.
More than half of those polled – 56% – said they oppose any new walkouts. The figures appear to confirm Streeting’s assertion that the mood in the country has shifted, particularly as the NHS begins to show signs of recovery.
No. 10 warns of risk to NHS recovery
Downing Street also ruled out any further concessions, warning that more strikes would threaten Labour’s ability to deliver on its key NHS targets. A spokesman said: “The NHS is finally moving in the right direction for the first time in 15 years so it’s disappointing that the BMA is threatening to undermine that progress with strikes.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has made reducing NHS waiting times a central pledge of his government. Under Labour’s health mission, the NHS is expected to treat 92% of patients within 18 weeks by 2029. Currently, only 60% are treated within that timeframe.
Health chiefs believe the total waiting list must fall from 7.4 million to just four million in order to hit the 18-week target.
Impact of previous strikes still being felt
The last wave of industrial action by junior doctors – spanning 44 days between March and July 2023 – led to the cancellation of 1.5 million appointments and operations across England. NHS leaders have warned that a return to disruption on this scale would be a major setback just as early signs of improvement are emerging.
Since Labour took office, waiting lists have begun to decline, falling slightly from 7.6 million to 7.4 million. Ministers argue this shows the current strategy is working—and that now is not the time to jeopardise progress.
Government firm on final offer
Both Streeting and Downing Street are standing firm: no new pay offer is forthcoming. While ministers remain willing to engage on non-pay issues, the government insists it “can’t be more generous” than it already has been.
With pressure building on all sides, the coming days will test whether the BMA presses ahead with strike plans or returns to the table to discuss working conditions rather than wages.
