Tories at war on pay for public sector workers as calls to ease austerity mount

Senior government figures have called for an early end to austerity amid suggestions the government could lift the cap on public sector pay as early as this autumn.

Cabinet secretaries Chris Grayling and Michael Fallon both openly called for public sector workers to be given a pay rise, while a Downing Streetspokesmansaidthegovernment had “heard the message” from voters in the general election and would review the 1 per cent cap public sector pay.

But there was confusion as the comments sparked a battle within government, with Treasury figures reacting angrily to suggestions that the cap could be lifted in the Budget this autumn.

Within hours of its first briefing, a Number 10 spokesman said that its policy on public sector pay had not changed.

Last night MPS rejected by