Talking to HR in the week 22,000 police officers marched into central London in protest at their 1.9% pay rise, he said: “The Government is taking a hard line towards public-sector pay as it fears that higher salaries will raise inflation. PM Brown says he doesn’t want a boom and bust economy; I’m saying, I don’t want to see boom and bust pay either. It’s bad for recruitment and it’s bad for retention.”
Barber said current public-sector pay deals represent “a progressive cut in living standards”. He added: “There is the cash to increase public spending. Key workers should not be seeing pay cuts.”
