We are only 17 days into this Labour government and we have just seen ministers already bow in a shocking way to their paymasters, the trade unions.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was quite clear in her Laura Kuenssberg interview on BBC; Teachers and health workers will receive 5.5% pay rises (almost three times inflation) in order to avoid industrial conflict.
So, we won’t do the right thing, we won’t do the prudent thing we will simply reward those employees who, through their trade union, send us money which helps us get elected. How wrong is that?
Let’s face it Labour were lying through their back teeth when they said they wouldn’t raise taxes. They have spent every minute of every hour since being elected saying things are so much worse than they had imagined. It’s crap but it plays to their voter base.
And they are using the teachers and NHS workers pay claim as a battering ram to put up taxes like inheritance tax, capital gains etc. All taxes paid by people who have made something of themselves.
The suggested 5.5% award came from the independent review body which takes into account requirements to recruit and retain skilled staff in public services. But Labour can’t pretend they are neutral on the outcome.
Where is the money coming from? As we all know the government doesn’t have any money, it’s us the taxpayer who are required to pay and we already have a number of other demands on our plate.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies estimates that public sector pay represents about a fifth of all government spending. There is a madness of simply waving through this huge award as it will clearly be the benchmark for all state employees.
Waiting round the corner is the British Medical Association and their absurd demands from the junior doctors of 35%.
They claim, and I see that teachers have picked up the argument, that they have fallen behind over the years and they need to catch up.
That is true of a lot of industries. Back in the early 1990s, I could hire a young journalist on the Sun for £22K. Were you to hire that same journalist today their pay would be….. around £22K. And if you were to hire a young coder back then their pay might be around £20K but today would be around £42,500 and could be a good bit more.
Putting aside that there is no money in the government coffers, and they have promised not to raise most taxes, the idea that people’s pay is decided at a certain level forever is ridiculous.
But the difference between a coder and a journalist and a state employee is that they cannot wreck the public’s day by withdrawing their Labour.
Teachers striking, as we have seen over the past few years, causes mayhem in family life and damages the chances of the innocent – the children who are relying on a decent education to make their way in the world. Further, it creates the impression in young minds that turning up for school is an optional extra.
But better to take on the teachers and health workers and agree a pay deal the nation can afford that simply roll over and signal that state workers are some kind of protected species. The reality is that with their spectacular pensions, which are never mentioned in pay negotiations, these are great jobs which, unlike private industry, they can quit at 50, take the summer off and still be in demand for other work.
In any event the average experienced secondary school teacher is now on around £47,500 and even a couple of years in as a primary school teacher you can expect around £34,000. I accept teachers work hard but they do receive thirteen weeks a year holiday, no weekend working and no shift work.
The reality is that the nation cannot afford 5.5%. Most industries have changed dramatically over the past three decades and yet the public sector has not discernibly changed.
It’s rubbish to say that because of their founding ethos, public services are beyond improvement. Even Blair said last year that the NHS must face fundamental reform or support will decline.
A friend of mine, in agony with a stomach issue, spent from Friday to yesterday afternoon being treated in a corridor of Stoke hospital. Perhaps health professionals should spend a little more time putting that right before squeezing the taxpayer for more pay.