Health minister asked to resign

The row has emerged after the Socialists last week warned the Partido Popular (PP) government that they would take out criminal proceedings if an attempt were made to dock doctors' pay. But the PP say that a High Court ruling had been made during the term of office of the previous Socialist coalition that doctors were no longer entitled to the perks which even now, they still continue to receive. Meanwhile, doctors are threatening to strike next month over the issue. “We won't return one cent to the government of the money which we have earned honorably,” said Simebal's President Isidoro Torres said yesterday. “Let the Guardia Civil take all 3'000 of us to jail, and then see how Balearic President uses a scalpel,” he challenged, warning that the union might take legal action against Rafael Bosch if he doesn't retract his demand. Simebal said that the government are trying to remove any prestige from the work that doctors do and the pay they receive so that they become just “part of the ordinary working masses.”