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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Helen Whately MP has just said that

119 replies

Gilead · 15/04/2020 08:44

'our health and social care workers are well paid for what they do'.

AIBU to think as care minister she needs to acquaint herself with the pay scales.

OP posts:

Honeyroar · 15/04/2020 09:31

I thought Piers was a total fucking idiot this morning. She couldn’t get a word in to answer, and he was waving the bloody Daily Mail as his source of figures!! I’d have told him if he couldn’t shut up long enough to listen to my reply I’d go and talk to someone who could. Piers is just a self centred bully. I’m not a fan of the Tory gov at all, but we actually turned over in the middle of that interview, it was so annoying!

WaterOffADucksCrack · 15/04/2020 09:31

Shocking. I've been working so muchbbecause the care home is short staffed now. I'm salaried at 21k per year as the manager and won't get paid any extra for overtime.

Original poster

Gilead · 15/04/2020 09:32

Krakow, she probably doesn't want to know, that would mean ensuring people are in receipt of a living wage.

OP posts:

Original poster

Gilead · 15/04/2020 09:33

Honey, I agree, and I don't normally watch, but the fact is, she stated the above. She obviously has absolutely no clue about the realties of the life and wages of care workers.

OP posts:

VettiyaIruken · 15/04/2020 09:38

Well paid? To risk their lives during a pandemic while not having enough ppe?

Ok.

Well, between her and Hancock's utter bollocks about ppe they are showing how shit they are.

Walkaround · 15/04/2020 09:40

Perhaps she should have gone on to say that MPs are vastly overpaid for what they do.

Makeitgoaway · 15/04/2020 09:40

Actually, I think anyone who thinks qualified, experienced health workers are badly paid should Google the payscales. The "low" salaries sited are always the entry level pay, they become quite respectable as they move up the scales. I think people would be surprised at what a senior nurse can earn.

GPs are certainly not badly paid. One of the reasons for shortages is that they can make what most of us would consider a very good living by working part time!

What is a travesty is the care workers on minimum wage.

1forsorrow · 15/04/2020 09:42

she apparently couldn't compose herself enough to stop giggling I couldn't work out what was worse her amusement at it all or the Patel smirk. Where do they get them from, or do they have to get them a bit tiddly before they will go on air?

Iamamoleinahole · 15/04/2020 09:44

So you get rid of one and you get the other. Nothing changes. They are both ideologically based.

Science and maths which is what this disaster is about are subjects that do not feature much in a typical MPs background. They are literate but not numerical and hence comments like this under discussion.

Cherrysoup · 15/04/2020 09:44

Is she completely unaware?

Zilla1 · 15/04/2020 09:45

I've not read her statement but if she said this, perhaps MPs' pay and benefits could be 'levelled up' to the lavish pay that care and HCPs receive. Perhaps she might not want to spend time in a health or care home environment without sufficient/correct/unexpired PPE based on the incidence of previously-healthy HCPs under 60 years without risk factors who've inconveniently died.

RosesandIris · 15/04/2020 09:46

I think she needs to follow a care worker for a day. What utter nonsense.

Mascotte · 15/04/2020 09:48

I don’t think you can jump healthcare and social care workers together as regards pay.

The pay which care workers receive is a disgrace. To claim otherwise is disgusting.

Rosehip10 · 15/04/2020 09:49

Why do you think ministers line up to be interviewed by "journalists" such as Laura Kuenssberg - who doesn't dare offend in fear of losing privileged access and her "first" question always.

Mascotte · 15/04/2020 09:49

Lump! Not jump 😳

ThrowingGoodAfterBad · 15/04/2020 09:49

Which health and social care workers and compared to what?

These MPs need to be comparing against the cost of living in this country, which includes providing the basic need of shelter. They should try it without having access to any other funding, no bank of mum and dead, no independent ‘consultancies’ or free income from poorer tenants to draw on. All UK wages in working productive jobs - as opposed to higher managerial and financial levels - are low in this regard.

VettiyaIruken · 15/04/2020 09:50

I'd love someone to ask her if she means that, what? £20 odd k a year is well paid, or if she means that what they do is worth about £20k while what a footballer does is worth X and what she does is worth y.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 15/04/2020 09:52

Most of our politicians seem over-paid for what they do.

Especially considering their expenses, directorships, advisory positions etc

Namechanger0800 · 15/04/2020 09:55

Firstly she is minister for social care not health

But yes car crash tv - awful bullying arrogant pompous point scoring interview from piers Morgan and she has an unfortunate habit of smirking when uncomfortable which he pounced on And knew damn well she wasn't laughing. She was eye rolling though and exasperated and prob hasn't had enough experience at controlling that

But she did not inspire confidence or know her brief well enough to make it through such aggressive interviewing - needs to work on media skills and I'm pretty sure went off to cry as soon as she came off air

The repeated comment about the opposition game playing was major cringe and a more skilled politician would have swept aside that dig about the pay cap which is being taken out of context as the cap was removed some mths later after than footage they keep showing

I don't like to see women in positions of power being belittled in such a shocking way

Hingeandbracket · 15/04/2020 09:59

I don't like to see women in positions of power being belittled in such a shocking way
I agree it is shocking to see someone so senior so unwilling and/or unable to answer a few perfectly reasonable questions.

Zilla1 · 15/04/2020 10:00

Makeitgoaway, PMSL at "The "low" salaries sited [cited] are always the entry level pay, they become quite respectable as they move up the scales".

Now 'low' and 'respectable' are subjective and care workers on minimum wage are treated poorly but regarding nurses, I understand the median pay for UK nurses is £23k. I also understand the majority of nurses in acute are Band 5 and below. Now I know many earn less than a Band 5, equally many wouldn't consider a Band 4 or 5 pay to be respectable.

Namechanger0800 · 15/04/2020 10:01

And she didn't say they were well paid - watch it again- she says she wants to support the government to ensure they are appropriately paid for what they do

Amotherof6 · 15/04/2020 10:02

Wow - she is so out of touch!

1forsorrow · 15/04/2020 10:02

it wasn't just the ITV interview, she was all smiles and giggles on Sky as well. I think she was on BBC as well, did anyone see that, wonder if she was any different.

I'm not watching BBC anymore, they seem to have been told to be nice to the govt and no real challenges about anything. All terribly nice and polite. I'm not a Piers Morgan fan but he is asking some very good questions, Sky is more polite but again pushing more than the BBC.

Namechanger0800 · 15/04/2020 10:04

Look I don't think she has covered herself in glory and have never voted Tory in my life. The sky interview was more bearable although she was still skirting around key issues buying think piers bullish manner was degrading and he has not attacked gove, Hancock or any other minister in quite such a deranged way

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