Most Britons want ‘rebalancing of economy’ and NHS investment post-coronavirus, poll finds

The British public wants more money to be invested in the NHS and for key workers to be more paid more, new research has suggested.

A survey of more than 2,000 people, carried out between 27 April and 1 May for the Unite union, found that most participants supported a rebalancing of the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The majority of respondents want the minimum wage to be raised and for zero-hour contracts to be banned, believing that these and other measures would ensure that key workers are better valued by society.

The survey also showed that the public has no appetite for further tax cuts for the wealthy, with 71 per of people thinking that the government should tax the rich rather than bringing austerity cuts to public services.

Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, said: "This crisis has exposed deep faults in how our country works. The public can see that in this time of maximum economic and health strife it is our lowly paid key workers, not the super-rich, who are leading this country through this crisis.”

Citing nurses, bus drivers and refuse collectors and others, he said that the “very least” key workers deserve is income and job security.

Mr McCluskey added that the public rejected more austerity and sought more funding for the NHS.

He called on the government to bring about change and to offer rewards to working people, whom he called “the real wealth creators of this country”.

More than 150 NHS staff and social care workers have died from Covid-19 in the UK since 11 March, with the true number likely to be much higher.

Jennie Sablayan, a haematology nurse who died on 5 May from coronavirus, is among those who lost their lives while working on the frontline during the pandemic.

Described as a “much-loved specialist”, Sablayan leaves behind her husband and two young daughters.

A GoFundMe page, set up two days ago in her memory, has raised almost £23,000 to support her family.