“It’s very good to clap for them, but we need to pay them…”
Dua Lipa called on Boris Johnson to give frontline workers a “fair” pay rise as she accepted the award for best British female solo artist at the BRITs on Tuesday.
The government’s proposal to increase NHS staff wages by a mere 1% for workers in England has been widely criticised, with the public urged to show their disapproval by taking part in a slow clap in March.
Dua dedicated her award to Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, the emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London, explaining in her acceptance speech that a message needed to be sent to the Prime Minister regarding the proposed pay rise.
“She [Dame Elizabeth] has spent her stellar nursing career fighting racial injustice,” she said.
“She has also spent so much time and is a strong, strong advocate for protecting frontline workers.
“She has also said that there’s a massive disparity between gratitude and respect for frontline workers because it’s very good to clap for them but we need to pay them.
“And so I think what we should do is we should all give a massive, massive round of applause and give Boris a message that we all support a fair pay rise for our frontline.”
https://twitter.com/dexjennings98/status/1392210824631103492
Her words were well received by the 4,000-strong audience at the London O2 Arena, the majority of which were NHS workers.
