Cuts and pay freeze like throwing water on a chip pan fire

Reacting to Treasury documents seen by the Daily Telegraph advocating these drastic measures, the union which represents thousands of civil servants alongside workers in the private sector argued that the priority must be maintaining jobs and demand in the economy.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said:

“Responding to an economic shock on this scale with more austerity and pay cuts for public servants would be like throwing water on a chip pan fire.

“The challenge the country will face in the next few years will be getting the economy growing again quickly, saving jobs, and keeping wages steady so that demand in the economy doesn’t plummet.

“Slashing the wages of the public servants who have helped us through this crisis would not only be immoral, it would only make the situation worse, leading to a spiral of cuts and unemployment that will hamstring Britain for a decade.

“Ministers must ignore these proposals and focus government attention on saving jobs, supporting incomes, and getting the economy firing on all cylinders once it is safe to do so.”