English doctors to strike in face-off with government over pay

By Sam Tabahriti and Marissa Davison

LONDON (Reuters) -Resident doctors in England will begin a five-day strike on Friday over pay, challenging Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party government that promised to end industrial unrest when taking office a year ago.

The government is refusing to meet demands for higher pay from the British Medical Association, which says the 5.4% rise awarded to resident doctors - qualified physicians who make up nearly half of the medical workforce - does little to undo years of pay erosion.

The result is a return to picket lines outside hospitals from 0600 GMT Friday - a throwback to 2023 when high inflation and stagnant pay brought doctors, nurses and other staff from the publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) out on strike.

"We don't want to strike, but we have to," said Bishoy Yassa, a 24-year-old recently qualified resident doctor. "Even after fair negotiations ... we were completely ignored."

"There's a misconception that doctors are being greedy," he added. "This isn't just about pay. This is about getting the government to listen to the state of the NHS."

After winning an election last year, Labour quickly reached a settlement with doctors for a 22% pay rise, but this year, as it grapples with increasingly strained public finances, it has refused to move beyond a 5.4% increase.

Health minister Wes Streeting has called the decision to strike "reckless and needless."

"All I asked of the them (BMA's leadership) was the postponement of strikes for a few weeks so we could work together on a detailed package that could form an offer to you to end this dispute," Streeting said in a letter addressed to resident doctors posted on X on Thursday.

Public backing for the strikes is limited, with 52% now opposing them and 34% in favour, according to a YouGov survey of 4,954 adults conducted on Monday. That represents a shift from May, when 48% opposed and 39% supported the action.

Views among doctors also differ.

Adam Boggon, a 33-year-old resident doctor and a BMA member, told Reuters he voted against the strike action, fearing it would harm patients.

"I would like for a settlement to be achieved very soon and in the absence of strike action which doesn't help anybody and which nobody wants," he said.

(Editing by William Maclean)