Pay is a question of economic justice

ANYBODY who has received magnificent help from a nurse would be delighted to see him or her receive a pay rise.

The contribution made by public sector workers to our nation is priceless. Emergency workers serve not just with skill, but with a fusion of compassion and courage which deserves celebration.

These workers have discovered the downside of having their salaries paid out of the public purse. Salaries were frozen in 2011-12 and 2012-13, and then a 1% pay cap was introduced.

There is mounting concern about inflation which could further erode the wages of these men and women.

Ministers have grave reason to worry – and not just about the threat of having to deal with strikes and a slump in the opinion polls.

Many branches of the public services are having to do more with less as a result of belt-tightening. If talented staff are poached by the private sector or if they leave to take lucrative positions abroad then managers may struggle to find competent replacements.

This is not just about wages. We have grown all too used to hearing stories of how teachers and medical staff are under intense stress and engaged in constant battles for resources.

One reason why Theresa May lost her majority may be that although voters did not want Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister they sought to send a clear message that the country is weary after years of austerity.

The Conservative party has endured since the 19th century because it has a tradition of picking up on public discontent, and a string of Tory figures have started making noises about the need to deliver decent wages in the public sector.

However, this is different from calling for the cap to be scrapped. If inflation lets rip, the last the Government wants is a 1970s-style confrontation with unions over the need for wage restraint.

After years of claiming there is no “magic money tree”, ministers will fear the Government’s credibility will be torched if billions can be found to give millions a bigger than expected pay rise. This could intensify the sense that the austerity policies introduced in the Cameron-Clegg era not only failed to put the UK in the black but could have been avoided.

Can the Government cut elsewhere to fund a pay boost? There is already deep concern about the impact of benefits cuts on working families; the DUP link-up means a raid on pensioner benefits is impossible; defence and international development are ring-fenced; and it would seem self-defeating to pay hard-pressed staff by taking cash from other budget areas of the services in which they work.

Teachers will not say thanks if the price of a pay rise is the loss of a classroom assistant. The alternative is to borrow or increase taxes but is this fair to private sector workers, who are also at risk of inflation, and whose median average pay last year was less than in the public sector?

We need a just solution to this dilemma.