LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer again failed to commit to inflation-proof pay rises for NHS and other public-sector workers yesterday.

When asked by delegates at the TUC’s annual Congress to support the vital move amid soaring prices, Jeremy Corbyn’s successor highlighted the need to “grow the economy and tackle inflation.”

The exchange came as hundreds of thousands of NHS staff across Britain ballot for strike action following years of below-inflation salary increases, crippling cuts to services and creeping privatisation. 

Addressing Sir Keir at the Brighton Centre on the final day of the union body’s 2022 meet-up, Unison activist Sam Hemraj asked: “Labour in opposition has shown its support for public services.

“But what will Labour do in power to ensure that our members in the NHS and other public services receive pay awards that are at least in line with inflation?”

The former shadow Brexit secretary replied: “Let me say thank you to all those who work in our NHS and all our public services for everything they do every day, particularly during the pandemic.”

He said that his wife and other family members work or had worked in the health service, claiming it “runs through my body like my DNA.”

However, Sir Keir only promised to “broaden the remit” of supposedly independent pay review bodies to put “additional emphasis on wages reflecting the need for improved recruitment and retention.”

In a separate question, GMB’s Carol Robertson asked whether the party would deny delivery giant Amazon any public-sector contracts once in office as the US-owned multinational had an “appalling health and safety record and aggressive hostility to unions.”

The Labour leader did not give that commitment but urged the firm to recognise the union, a move welcomed by GMB general secretary Gary Smith, who demanded bosses “listen.”

The questions followed a speech which saw Sir Keir restate key “new deal for workers” pledges, including the return of sectoral collective bargaining and the banning of zero-hours contracts and fire-and-rehire attacks on working people.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said he had “shown that Labour can deliver the change Britain desperately needs after 12 years of Conservative misrule.”

Unison head Christina McAnea praised the address, saying it is “time for a government that puts the country first,” while Usdaw leader Paddy Lillis described the Holborn and St Pancras MP as a “prime minister in waiting.”