Paddy McGuinness mocks claim he's 'millionaire discussing topic he knows nothing about'
Paddy McGuinness has hit back at claims he's a "millionaire talking about something he knows nothing about" after defending the junior doctors' strikes on social media today.
Comedian Paddy McGuinness, 49, has mocked claims he “knows nothing” about the junior doctors’ strikes due to his celebrity status on Twitter today.
The television presenter was met with plenty of praise after defending the strikes, while some of his followers were not pleased with his take on the subject.
Junior doctors have staged a four-day walkout straight after the Easter bank holiday weekend.
The strikes will apparently cause "unparalleled" upheaval and will be the "most disruptive in NHS history", according to national medical director for the NHS in England Professor Sir Stephen Powis.
The British Medical Association is asking for a 35% pay rise, but the government says that is an unreasonable request, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay accusing the organisation of putting patients “at greater risk” due to the timing of the strike action.
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Taking to Twitter this morning, Paddy told his 584,400 followers: “I’m shocked Junior Doctors are on a £14 hourly wage?
“I find that mind-blowing, considering I wasn’t far behind that teaching Boxercise classes in the early noughties.
“Are you shocked by this? The Dr’s pay that is, not the Boxercise? #JuniorDoctorsStrike,” he asked. (sic)
According to the BMA’s estimates, a first-year junior doctor working a 40-hour week earns a basic total annual salary of £29,384, which works out to be a little over £14 an hour.
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Not all of Paddy’s followers appeared to be impressed by Paddy’s take on the topic, with Flick replying: “Seriously..go away ...a millionaire talking about something he knows nothing about.” (sic)
Retweeting Flick, Paddy simply responded “Twitter” with a laughing emoji.
Taking to the comments section, another follower Carl joked: “You do realise that once you've earned a few quid you're meant to pull up the ladder?”
“It seems that way?” Paddy responded with a laughing emoji.
“Come a long way from Rivington services!” Luke quipped, referring to the comic’s Bolton origins, as Paddy wrote back: “Living the dream.”
David also didn’t seem too happy with Paddy’s original tweet about junior doctors’ wages, writing: “Are they though? Wouldn’t believe everything you see.”
“I’m just going off what the Junior Doctors are saying?” Paddy replied.
“I trust them to cut me open with a scalpel so I’m going to trust them on this,” he added with the hashtag #JuniorDoctorsStrike.
It has been estimated that some 350,000 appointments and operations have been rescheduled as a result of the strike action, as senior doctors and other medics who are not on strike have been diverted to cover services such as A&E and maternity care.
