Tory MP says working as a part-time nurse has convinced her public-sector staff must get a pay rise
Maria Caulfield is calling on the Government to life the cap on public-sector pay rises
A TORY MP who works part-time as a cancer nurse is leading the charge against her own Government’s hated public sector pay cap.
Maria Caulfield, who night shifts twice a month at London’s Royal Marsden, told The Sun it was her continued “experience of working on the front line that has led me to supporting the Scrap the Cap campaign”.
New Commons figures show the Lewes MP was paid was £128 for a 12 hour stint in August and has worked more than 200 hours for the NHS since being elected in 2015.
The Conservative backbencher is lobbying her own side to lift the wage cap not just for nurses, but right across the public sector.
She hit out: “Having worked as a full time nurse under the pay freeze before my first election, I know the pressures that many nurses are facing in the NHS.”
On Wednesday she will invite the Royal College of Nursing to take their plea for a pay rise directly to ministers and MPs.
She said she was sponsoring the event for the RCN as “a way of raising awareness of just what a fantastic job nurses do and why they deserve to be given a pay rise.”
Speaking to The Sun about her work for the NHS, she said: “I tend to only do about two shifts a month which are usually a night or weekend shift so it does not impact on my role as a MP.
“I find working back on the wards really valuable as not only do I get first-hand experience of the issues facing front line staff and patients but it really helps me in my role as a MP when it comes to making decisions on the NHS.”