We shouldn’t have been surprised by the parsimonious pay award to English health workers. Afterall, in June 2017, 313 Tories abetted by 10 DUP allies, voted down a Labour amendment that would have given a “proper” pay rise to health workers, including nurses. The vote was greeted with resounding cheers from the Tory benches. The usual fruitcakes opposed the amendment, but joining them in the No lobby were Michael Gove, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak and one Boris Johnson. Presumably the same Boris Johnson who later came over all tearful when describing how two foreign nurses saved his life.

Also in the No lobby was Douglas Ross, since elevated to leadership of the Scottish Tories. In July 2020, six Scottish Tory MPs including Mr Ross, demonstrated their commitment to the NHS by helping defeat a Trade Bill amendment that would have given the NHS greater protection from foreign control. Mr Ross appears to have had a road to Damascus moment, having spoken warmly about the togetherness of “applauding the NHS every Thursday”. Alternatively, putting the clap into claptrap.

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Nevertheless, most of us expected that even Tories would recognise what NHS staff have been doing throughout the pandemic. A decent and fair-minded government would have seen the untenable hypocrisy of the weekly applause and failure to reward health professionals for their herculean efforts. Unfortunately, decency and fair mindedness are in short supply. In purely political terms, one can only marvel at the naivety and insensitivity of the one per cent pay offer to English health workers. In Scotland the £500 bonus and the 1% interim rise has been welcome, but certainly not over-generous. The backlash in England was inevitable; a mild-mannered friend commenting that few things could bring him on to the streets, but defending the NHS would do the trick.

Unsurprisingly, health minister Nadine Dorries was one of the 313 Tories who voted against Labour’s 2017 amendment on health workers’ pay. She is at least consistent, telling BBC’s Today programme that she was “pleasantly surprised” that health workers in England, including nurses, had been offered anything at all. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson weighed in, saying that 1% was all the country could afford and the now dry-eyed Prime Minister explained NHS staff are being offered “as much as we can at the present time”. Surely, some of that £350 million diverted every week from the EU to the NHS, could underwrite a decent pay rise. I know the £350m exists, because I read about it on the side of a bus.

It all boils down to money then. The country can’t afford to pay frontline health staff in England enough to cover inflation. Laughably, health workers are told they have to shoulder their share of the burden, as we’re still “all in this together”. Unfortunately, some are in it right up to their necks. There were 4.5 million claims for Universal Credit between March 2020 and January 2021. Numerous studies show the weight of the pandemic has fallen most heavily on those least able to bear it. Already depressed communities have lost even more jobs and services. Ethnic communities, the sick, the young and the elderly have been disproportionately affected. But hey, hold on, it’s an ill-pandemic that blows nobody any good and it hasn’t all been gloom and doom.

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The big consultancy firms for example, have had a very good pandemic. They quickly filled the vacuum caused by the progressive rundown of public health capacity. Eye-watering contracts for PPE, track and trace and laboratory services were awarded with little public scrutiny and even less inbuilt accountability. A £49m contract was awarded to a company with no track record, listed at Companies House as “dormant” and with assets of £100. It makes Chris Grayling’s award of a ferry contract to a company with no ships, look like a model of due diligence.

Unquestionably, a pandemic requires rapid response, but that doesn’t excuse the cavalier approach to contracts involving vast sums of public money. The award of some “high priority lane contracts” would have been more rigorous had they been based on cronies’ Christmas card lists. The National Audit Office (NAO) estimated that the lack of rigour and scrutiny contributed to hugely inflated prices for PPE, adding around £10 billion to the cost. For example, the cost of respirator masks rose by a breath-taking 160%. As shadow minister Rachel Reeves put it, the process was, “all cheques and no balances”.

The pandemic will leave many legacies, including the massive economic fallout. The Chancellor has already spoken of the “hard choices” that lie ahead. Fair enough, but the choices shouldn’t be hardest for those already between a rock and a hard place. For reasons beyond the Scottish Government’s control, negotiations on the 2021-22 pay settlement for Scottish health workers have been delayed. Nevertheless, how about putting down a marker for gratitude and fairness by committing any future administration to a well above inflation settlement? By the summer memories of what the NHS did for us will have faded. Health Secretary Jane Freeman has emphasised any settlement should be “fair, affordable and sustainable”. To pay health workers what they’re worth, governments should apply the same principles to claw back the bloated profits of the fat cats who have had a very good pandemic indeed.

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