Ministers braced for nurses' fury over pay

MINISTERS ARE bracing themselves for a wave of anger from Britain's 500,000 nurses today as the Government insists that their salary increase should not breach the 2.5 per cent inflation rate.

In its submission to the nurses' pay-review body, the Government argues for an "affordable" increase in line with the rise in prices, The Independent understands. Nurses' leaders are calling for a substantial increase to bring pay in line with comparable professions, citing figures of between 9 per cent and 24 per cent.

Bob Abberley, head of health at the public-service union Unison, said that nurses were expecting "fair play" from the National Health Service.