Nurse backing calls for strikes promotes Corbyn's new party
Harry Eccles, an activist for the campaign group NHS Workers Say No, has said he felt hope at the rise of 'strong striking workers' as the health service faces disruption.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the latest to threaten strike action after rejecting the Government's 3.6 per cent pay rise for 2025-26.
Mr Eccles has called for Mr Corbyn's new party to work with the Greens and 'change things together''. Posting on X, he shared a graphic from the new Your Party, set up by Mr Corbyn, which referred to its 600,000 sign-ups as 'impressive'.
Just days ago he shared a photograph of himself with Mr Corbyn, wearing a red shirt, and saying 'Jeremy Corbyn didn't run Labour into the ground by pursuing Right-wing policies – that was Starmer'.
On the same day, he wished followers a 'Happy Socialist Sunday' and added he could feel hope rising with 'the emergence of a strong Zack led Greens, a mighty Sultana/Corbyn party, and the strong striking workers'.
'Nine out of 10 nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reject pay award' https://t.co/s8MoEtLc6V
— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) July 31, 2025
On Thursday, he promoted news that nine out of 10 nurses had rejected the latest pay offer, warning that they would strike if their salary demands were not met.
NHS Workers Say No took to X on Thursday afternoon, responding to a message from Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, referencing strike action, and saying 'Nurses next' alongside an emoji of a raised fist.
The RCN said 91 per cent of 170,000 members that voted on this year's pay award had rejected it.
Prof Nicola Ranger, who earns more than £200,000 per year to lead the nurses' union, said her colleagues felt 'deeply undervalued, and that is why record numbers are telling the Government to wake up, sense the urgency here and do what's right by them and by patients'.
She continued: 'Record numbers have delivered this verdict on a broken system that holds back nursing pay and careers and hampers the NHS,' she said. 'As a safety-critical profession, keeping hold of experienced nursing staff is fundamentally a safety issue and key to the Government's own vision for the NHS.
'To avoid formal escalation, the Government must be true to its word and negotiate on reforms of the outdated pay structure which traps nursing staff at the same band their entire career.'
Nurses next ✊ https://t.co/87NER95Ybm
— NHS Workers Say NO! (@NurseSayNO) July 31, 2025
Nurses in Wales and Northern Ireland also voted to reject the pay award. The profession staged its first-ever walkouts over pay in 2022 and 2023, but strike action came to a halt after it was unable to renew its mandate to keep striking when turnout fell below the legal threshold of 50 per cent.
Earlier on Thursday, the Telegraph revealed GPs were also considering winter strikes over the NHS plan, which they believe 'threatens the survival' of the current general practice model.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, ended a five-day walkout on Wednesday morning and have a mandate to strike until the new year.
Consultants are currently holding an 'indicative ballot' to assess their appetite to strike. Unions representing other healthcare workers from paramedics to cleaners have also rejected pay awards from the Government.
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