CITY MPs and the leader of the council have backed The Press campaign - calling on the government to scrap tuition fees and to provide proper pay for health care workers.

The Press has joined a national campaign with its parent company, Newsquest, to scrap tuition fees for student nurses, paramedics and midwives working in hospitals.

York Central MP Rachael Maskell said: “Nurses and allied health professionals will stop at nothing to provide the best care possible to their patients.

"They have put themselves in harm’s way to bring all their skills, knowledge and care to people at this time, and yet so many are weighed down with the student debt.

“As an opponent of tuition fees, I have long argued that we need to release our health care students of this burden of debt and ensure that they are properly supported through their education with grant funding.

Press campaign says scrap student nurses' tuition fees

Q&A: Why the Government must act to help student nurses

“I call on the government to scrap tuition fees and additional training costs for students and then to properly pay our health and care staff.”

Meanwhile, York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said he would support cancelling health care workers' tuition fees for this year.

He said: “I’m glad to see this campaign highlighting the incredible work of student nurses at this time. They are working on the frontline in an unprecedented medical emergency at an early stage of their careers, and we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

“Their contribution must be recognised, and cancelling this year’s tuition fees could be one way of doing this, which I would support. The government should give this serious consideration.”

Leader of City of York Council, Cllr Keith Aspden, said: “It’s time for the government to show nurses they are serious about their gratitude, and I fully support the campaign to scrap tuition fees for those now helping fight coronavirus.

“Nurses across the country are putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives and help our national effort against Covid-19. Cancelling their debt would show nurses starting their careers just how much society values them.

“The decision to remove bursaries has had a disastrous impact on recruitment with the number of new nurses falling just when we needed them most. It is now clear that the removal of bursaries is making it harder to safely staff the NHS and that these fees should now be scrapped.”