Pay cap could see the end of Tories
After punishing struggling families with austerity for years because there was allegedly no money in the coffers, incredibly a staggering £1billion was found to appease the DUP in an attempt to reach a deal and keep May’s so-called “strong and stable” Government in power.
It would be a joke if it wasn’t so serious with the cuts having tragic consequences to services in our local communities. And now, after seemingly offering a ray of hope that the cap on the wages of employees of our frontline services would be lifted, May makes another U-turn and has adamantly refused a muchneeded meagre pay increase.
This could be the last straw that will bring down the Tories. Labour must cash in on its new-found success and rally its members for a final assault on this millionaire-backed, self-serving Government. Neil Atherton St Helens, Merseyside So, Theresa May has refused to budge on the 1% cap on public sector pay, after cruelly building hopes up that she would scrap it. Defending her decision in Parliament, she echoed George Osborne claiming the Tories had inherited the biggest deficit in peacetime history and said we must “live within our means”. Well, Mrs May, if that’s the case what about the MPs’ pay rise and the £1billion given to the DUP? Perhaps she should shake the money tree a little harder because we’ve had a bellyful of austerity and cuts hitting the poorer people of this country. Dave Mellor, Warrington As a nurse, I have never voted Tory because I have never believed in the singular greed of capitalism. Yet even if I had, I’d be strongly advising Mrs May to cut the British working class some much needed slack on public sector pay.
It is almost as if she wants to be ousted by the electorate, as she has no rational answers to any of the problems with which she is surrounded. Carry on, Mrs May, the corner you’re painting yourself into is close at hand. Nadine Neve, Silsden, West Yorks
As Government ministers act like squabbling children over funding public services, it has been left to the Chancellor Philip Hammond to insist that we have a “grown-up debate” about tax increases to fund public services. This is all very well, but shouldn’t we fund our public services first and then have a grown-up debate about tax increases to fund Trident and tax cuts for the wealthy? Shaun Shute, Gloucester
It makes my blood boil when Labour won’t defend themselves from Tory attacks that their mismanagement of the economy is the reason austerity is pushed on us. The Tories have been in power for past seven years and what have they got to show for their management of our economy? Vasant Mistry, Harrow, Middx
The Tories are dogmatic in their belief in market forces until it comes to public sector wages. Nurses are leaving the profession in droves because of falling wages. Doesn’t supply and demand suggest that wages should rise where there is a skills shortage? Ken McGrath, Maltby South Yorks