Resident doctors in the BMA (British Medical Association), formerly known as junior doctors, are to be balloted on pay.
Junior doctors were the first to take national strike action under the Labour government, putting pressure on Starmer in the run-up to the general election and then after. They secured a 22% pay rise over two years.
But the doctors’ leaders were clear at that stage: this should be the start of pay restoration back to pay levels of 2008. If that did not happen, the government needed to be “prepared for consequences”.
The BMA says pay erosion is still at 22.3%. But Labour health minister Wes Streeting has only offered 2.8% for 2025-26.
As the BMA says: “We’ve done it before – we can do it again”.
The ballot opens on 27 May.
