The chairman of the British Conservative party Nadhim Zahawi
The Chairman of the British Conservative party Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday that the NHS nurses striking for better pay are "playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin," a statement which triggered nationwide anger among NHS staffers who have nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine but nonetheless have to bear the consequences because of the government's support for Ukraine.
This came in the backdrop of insulting comparisons the Cabinet Office minister made yesterday when he announced that the government is considering the deployment of healthcare and border services to military personnel in case any strikes occur during the Christmas season.
"This is not a time to be divided," Zahawi told Sky News. "We have to come together to send a very clear message to Mr. Putin that he can’t use energy as a weapon in this way."
"This is not a time to strike, this is a time to negotiate."
Zahawi's bureau announced that they included up to 600 military troops, as well as 700 staff from the government's specialist Surge and Rapid Response Team, while also drafting in other members from across the Civil Service.
He called on unions to cancel their strikes and drop their pay demands as this would further support Russian aspirations to fuel inflation and energy costs amid the conflict in Ukraine.
"This is exactly what Putin wants to see – division," he told BBC1 when he was asked about nurses who are planning two days of strikes this month.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of NHS' leading trade union, Unite, called Zahawi out for "attacking ordinary workers whose only crime has been to refuse to take a pay cut."
Pat Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing, said, "Using Russia’s war in Ukraine as a justification for a real-terms pay cut for nurses is a new low for this government."