The prime minister has defended a proposed 1% pay rise for NHS staff.

“What we have done is try to give them as much as we can at the present time,” Boris Johnson said during a visit to a COVID-19 vaccination centre in north London.

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“The independent pay review body will obviously look at what we’ve proposed and come back.

“Don’t forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze, we’re in pretty tough times.

“We’ve tried to give the NHS as much as we possibly can and that means, in addition to the £140bn of annual money, we’ve got another £62bn we’ve found to help support the NHS throughout the crisis.”

The PM added that he is “massively grateful” to NHS staff and social care workers, describing their efforts throughout the pandemic as “heroic”.

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