Budget Day 2021 - North West nurses call for pay rise

Rishi Sunak faces a difficult balancing act when he sets out his Budget later - how to begin the task of dealing with the black hole in the public finances while also supporting families and businesses hit hard by coronavirus.

Here are some of the things to watch out for when the Chancellor gets to his feet at 12.30pm:

• The Tory manifesto in 2019 promised not to raise the rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT.

• But Mr Sunak is reported to be considering a freeze in the thresholds at which people start paying income tax or move into higher brackets - meaning more people would be dragged into those categories as wages increase.

• Freezing the £12,500 threshold at which people start paying tax would bring in an estimated £5 billion and freezing the £50,000 threshold where the 40p rate kicks in would bring in £1 billion by 2024-25.

• Corporation tax also appears in line for a hike, with Joe Biden's plan to raise taxes across the Atlantic giving the Government political cover to increase the rate while still maintaining international competitiveness.

• Mr Sunak is thought to be considering an increase in the tax on profits from 19p in the pound to between 23p and 25p.

• The furlough scheme is expected to continue, along with other support for businesses.

We've been speaking to leaders in nursing in the North West.

They're telling us the government will 'let society down' if they don't give nurses a pay rise in the budget later.

Estephanie Dunn is the head of the Royal College of Nursing in the region. She said:

"Our nurses are working flat out. They're coming in on their days off, they're going without their breaks and it's not that nurses are leaving because they're greedy. They're leaving because they're burnt out, they're stressed and they can't cope.

"So many put themselves on the line, became infected. A number died because of Covid. Many lived apart from families to avoid the risk and protect them. All that sacrifice seems to count for very little if anything at all.

"If a pay rise isn't done, it's letting down a whole group of people who deserve better. But it's also letting society down because we can't continue to run a service where nurses leave because they're burnt out, they can't afford to stay in the profession or people decide not to join the profession because it's not affordable.

"A lot of people were drawn to the profession so that's good but we need to think about what it takes to keep them because good will doesn't feed the family and it doesn't take away that worry and anxiety about what's happening at home while you're also worrying about the people that you're caring for.

"Good nursing care cannot be underestimated.

"Having the right numbers of nurses with the right knowledge and skills is what we're about and the only way we can achieve that is to pay them properly because nurses are burning themselves out - some doing two jobs just to make ends meet."

We'll hear from the Chancellor at 12.30pm.

• budget 2021
• Nurses
• North West