IT’S good to see Claire Perry back to her feisty self after the Christmas break: her latest column manages to have a pop at the Labour Party, the SNP and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Regarding the Labour party backbencher becoming leader of his party, there is definitely an appetite for someone whose leadership isn’t based on spin, lies, broken manifesto promises and insulting the opposition; perhaps someone with principles they stick to, someone whose every move isn’t carefully choreographed or airbrushed for maximum PR effect.

Regarding the recent junior doctors’ strike, Ms Perry says she is disappointed by the misinformation that has been put out. Funnily enough, Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton, agrees wholeheartedly with her, though I think they may differ on where that misinformation comes from. On a recent episode of Question Time, Ms Lucas said that the doctors have been “treated by contempt by the government and subjected to a campaign of misinformation”.

If Ms Perry seriously expects the public to believe her government is introducing this new contract to prioritise patient safety and offer junior doctors safer working hours, and (by definition) that the BMA has misinterpreted the whole deal, she must be living on another planet. Even impartial bystanders I have spoken to don’t believe a single word put out by the government on this matter. The BMA has entirely legitimate concerns over the government’s failure to recognise unsocial hours, loss of income and lack of contractual safeguards. A recent poll shows that more than two thirds of the public support the doctors’ strike action.

The government insists the contractual changes will result in an 11 per cent rise in basic pay, but that comes at a price. Other elements of the pay package are being curbed. For example, the number of hours during the working week that are classed as unsociable – and therefore attract an extra payment – are being cut.

Guaranteed pay increases linked to time in the job are being scrapped and replaced with a system linked to progression through set training stages. This, the BMA argues, affects people who take time out to have a baby, for example. They are also concerned that some doctors will end up being paid less and that the restrictions on the number of hours being worked by doctors are not strong enough.

A recent edition of Private Eye told us that 10pm is the time Jeremy Hunt wants to redefine as the beginning of “unsociable hours” for doctors, when they will be able to claim extra pay, which currently stands at 7pm. By comparison, 7.30pm is the time after which MPs are allowed to claim expenses for an evening meal on the grounds that they are “sitting late” in the House of Commons! As John Craig’s column on the same page as Ms Perry’s said: “We’re not in this together”.

PHILIP BLUNT, Brook Street, Great Bedwyn