An early Christmas present for the coalition

It has only taken several months of bitter negotiation and a national strike to get here, but a deal between the unions and the government over public sector pensions could finally be in sight. Danny Alexander has just announced the details in Parliament, but basically it seems that, across a range of schemes, the coalition has offered kinder accrual rates than it did in November. And this more generous proposal has now been accepted in principle, or at least not turned down, by 26 of the 28 relevant unions. Among those who still oppose it outright are the PCS, led by everyone’s favourite union malcontent, Mark Serwotka.

What happens next, in theory, is that the ‘heads of agreement’ signed over the past two days will be turned into a proper, formal arrangement over the next few months. Some unions will require more time to mull over the fine print; some will need to discuss it with their memberships.