He replied: “The NHS was carved out of the pay freeze that has been applied – due to the enormous pressure on the public finances – to everyone else in the public sector.”
And Mr Hancock added: “Inflation is below one percent and therefore a proposed one percent pay rise is indeed a pay rise and that’s simply a matter of fact.”
Responding to that, Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said Mr Hancock knew full well the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast inflation will reach 1.5 percent this year.
Nurses are preparing to strike over the pay offer, with a £35million strike fund set up by the Royal College of Nursing to support industrial action.