A GP turned MP has taken part in a rally to demonstrate against a seven-year pay cap for nurses and all public sector workers.

Former James Cook and North Tees Hospital worker Dr Paul Williams, MP for Stockton South, whose wife, Vicky, is a nurse, joined with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to demonstrate against the cap, alongside 3,000 nurses, student nurses, healthcare support workers and members of the public, in Parliament Square, London.

The rally was organised as part of the RCN’s Scrap the Cap campaign, which calls on the Government to remove the one per cent cap on NHS pay.

Actor and campaigner Sir Tony Robinson was one of the speakers at the rally, where he thanked NHS staff for looking after his parents, who both had dementia, and singled nursing staff out in particular for praise.

RCN members travelled from all over the UK to make their opposition to the pay cap known.

Closing the rally, RCN President Cecilia Anim told the crowd they had sent a message to the Government it couldn’t ignore.

“Today we have told them loud and clear: we will not give up. Let’s show the Government our voice is getting stronger and we’re not going to go away. Nursing matters. We matter.”

To coincide with the rally, an event was held in the House of Commons for MPs to meet RCN members and understand the effects of ongoing pay restraint.

Labour MP Paul Williams added: “It’s time to really show the value we place in our public sector workers and it’s time to call on this Prime Minister and this Conservative Government to Scrap the Cap.”