The nurses have got the Tories on the run. According to some news reports, which have just come out today,

Steve Barkley, the health secretary thinks he's going to have to give some ground on pay

because of the strikes, which have the overwhelming support, of course, of the NHS staff.

Now we're not at the Jamie Reinshow and I said they shouldn't just concede to them, they should

grovel. The nurses just do the most incredible job and do need to be recognised for the effort

that they put in and the empathy that they show to so many people, including people that we know.

But there is only a finite pot of money and what's really interesting is that

Stephen Barkley, even though he is privately talking about this and it's interesting that it's

private but it's been leaked so it's almost as if it's a kite flying exercise to see how it would

go down. He doesn't actually say, yes, you can just have the money. He's saying you can have

the money but I'm probably going to have to take that from your budget and there will have to

be cuts to services elsewhere. And at the moment, we already know that A&E is overstretched,

we know that ambulance drivers are frustrated that they can't leave their patients in the hospital

because there aren't enough beds as such a creaking service but there has been an awful lot of

investment in the NHS and in effect what the government is saying is unfortunately there isn't

a limitless supply of money so if you do want the money, there are going to have to be changes

made elsewhere. The idea of cuts and service will what are people at home or in water?

Which is why the NHS budget needs to be increased. I mean, these are about choices. By the way,

they shouldn't just back down. I think they should get the heads and knees and grovel to the nurses.

The issue of pay is not just a moral one. There is a moral question about the nurses who

carry this country through the worst crisis since World War II who are clapped by politicians who

then imposed real-terms pay cuts on them. That's a moral question. Should we treat nurses

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