Nurses strike: will there be a resolution?
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2022
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Also on the podcast, after a further three episodes of Harry and Meghan's new Netflix documentary were released, can either side end up the winner in the war of the Windsors?
Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.
For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.
Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Subscribe to the spectator this Christmas and get the next 12 weeks of print and online access, |
| 0:04.4 | as well as a bottle of Polrogear champagne, all for just £12. This offer is available in the UK |
| 0:09.6 | only. Go to www.spectator.co.uk forward slash centre to subscribe. |
| 0:19.1 | Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the spectator's daily politics podcast. I'm Max |
| 0:23.9 | Jeffrey and I'm joined by James Hill and Isabelle Hardman. Nurses in England, Wales and Northern |
| 0:30.4 | Ireland are on strike today. James, can you tell us what's happening? Sure, well the Royal College |
| 0:34.8 | of Nursing wants a 19% pay rise, says that low relation increases are compromising care by making |
| 0:40.7 | it hard to attract and retain nurses. There's obviously been a lot of coverage on the fact there's |
| 0:44.5 | a staffing crisis and a staffing shortage within the NHS. Obviously the government don't want to |
| 0:49.6 | give them that. Health Secretary Steve Barkley says it's an affordable and of course you know |
| 0:53.6 | you've got the whole economic pressures are into the government but it's the first of two day strikes |
| 0:57.7 | that's going on and there was potential for perhaps similar strike action in Scotland but they |
| 1:02.0 | called it off last week after small negotiation. Isabelle Dame Ruth May who is England's chief |
| 1:07.6 | nurse turned up on the pick line outside St James's hospital in London this morning. How's |
| 1:12.9 | significant is that? It's pretty striking, I have to say. I think we were talking yesterday on |
| 1:19.7 | the podcast about how the political culture of nursing is very different to that of doctors |
| 1:27.0 | and Ruth May has always been very much her own person. I think it's fair to say during the |
| 1:32.7 | pandemic wasn't prepared to defend apparent breaches of lockdown restrictions by people like |
| 1:39.0 | Dominic Cummings for instance so in a sense it's not a massive surprise that of all the people |
| 1:44.6 | to turn up on a pick line. Ruth May is the one. Chief Nursing Officer is still an appointment |
| 1:50.4 | within the Department of Health those effectively a civil servant to sort of advise re-roll and |
| 1:54.8 | number 10's line is that she's not a minister so she's not speaking for the government. Her quote |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.