RACHEL REEVES said that the price of the pay deal offered to junior doctors is a “drop in the ocean” compared to the cost of strikes.

Speaking to Times Radio the chancellor said that funding the 22.3 per cent pay package would cost about £350 million — a small sum compared to the £1.7 billion she claims was lost to NHS strikes.

The new offer, which will mean newly qualified doctors earning £15 an hour will earn about £17.60, has been put to members at the British Medical Association (BMA).