Tory leadership: Truss U-turns on pay cuts for regional public service workers
Liz Truss has this morning performed a screeching U-turn on a policy to pay regional public sector workers less than their London counterparts.
A spokesperson for Truss said that “current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained” and that “our hard-working frontline staff are the bedrock of society and there will be no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers”.
It comes after a severe backlash from Tory MPs and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen to the plans.
Truss announced last night that she would save £11bn if made Tory leader and PM by scrapping civil service targets on diversity and by linking public sector pay to where people lived.
This would mean pay cuts for public sector workers outside of London and the South East.
Ben Houchen, a Sunak supporter, said the proposal left him “absolutely speechless”.
A source on the Sunak campaign pointed out that the policy was “not a mistake” as Truss advocated for something similar when she was a Treasury minister in 2018.
“The lady is for turning,” they said.
Tory MP, and Rishi Sunak supporter, Chris Clarkson said this morning: “I’m not sure a promise to cut people’s pay based on where they live will survive first contact with focus groups, let alone reality.”
A spokesperson for Liz Truss said: “Over the last few hours there has been a wilful misrepresentation of our campaign. “Current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained. “Anything to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.
“Our hard-working frontline staff are the bedrock of society and there will be no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers.”