In this week’s Spectator – which hits newsstands today – James Forsyth reveals the political
calculations behind the Chancellor’s announcements on Tuesday. Here, for CoffeeHousers, is a taster of James’ column:
The government wants to be seen as on the side of necessary but fair reform; facing down opponents who believe in ‘something for nothing economics’. Public sector unions, with their desire to protect pensions that are far more generous than those on offer in the private sector, are ideal opponents in the eyes of coalition strategists.
On Tuesday, George Osborne chose to raise the stakes in this battle. He announced that he was asking ‘the independent pay review bodies to consider how public sector pay can be made more responsive to local labour markets’. This dull-sounding proposal is hugely significant. The abolition of national pay rates would mean the end of national pay bargaining and destroy the main purpose of national trade unions.
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