NHS clinicians’ pay is frozen for two years as government strives to reduce deficit

The pay of most NHS staff will be frozen for the next two years, it has been announced in the government’s emergency budget on Tuesday 22 June.

Chancellor George Osborne, in what he called a “progressive budget” that was “tough but fair,” said that public sector workers had to play their part in tackling the £155bn (€190bn; $230bn) deficit in the United Kingdom.

Mr Osborne, who has pledged to balance the nation’s books by 2015, said, “I know there are many dedicated public sector workers who work very hard and did not cause this recession, but they must share the burden as we pay …