PEOPLE in Bradford are being asked to stand on their doorsteps and balconies tonight to slow handclap the government over its proposal for a one per cent pay rise for NHS staff.

The public action – backed by UNISON, health unions and the TUC – is the latest step in the campaign to achieve fair pay for health workers who have worked tirelessly to keep the country safe, says UNISON.

The mass event takes place at 8pm on the first anniversary of the World Health Organisation declaring Covid-19 a global pandemic.

The slow handclap will be repeated three weeks later on April 1, the day staff were due to have their next wage increase.

Trevor Johnston, UNISON regional head of health Trevor Johnston said: "The chancellor and the prime minister should be ashamed of treating health staff so shabbily.

“This is the chance for the public to call them out on pay.

“Everyone in the NHS has coped in the toughest conditions this past year.

“Many have faced the trauma of patients dying, the exhaustion from endless shifts and the strain of chronic understaffing.

“Yet the government has shown them zero respect for keeping the NHS on its feet.

“Now let’s give health staff our support this evening by showing the government exactly what we all think of it’s a one per cent pay proposal.”