Call for UK public sector pay freeze

A pay freeze for Britain's six million public sector workers would be one of the least painful ways of rebalancing the public finances, said the head of the country's independent spending watchdog yesterday. Steve Bundred, Chief Executive of the Audit Commission, criticised politicians for failing to be honest about the need for cutbacks and said health and education should not be excluded. "At a time when inflation is likely to be between two and three per cent, a pain-free way of cutting public spending would be to freeze public sector pay," he wrote in the Observer newspaper. Britain's public deficit is forecast to reach £175 billion (Dh1.05 trillion) this year, more than 12 per cent of gross domestic product. In an interview on Sky television, Finance Minister Alistair Darling did not rule out a pay freeze and said the government would be looking at wage settlements over the next few weeks. "Public sector pay obviously has got to reflect prevailing conditions, and in particular inflation has come way down," he said. "Of course we have got to be fair with regard to people who work in the private sector, many of whom have seen their pay conditions somewhere near freeze." Bundred said the real choice at the next election – less than a year away – was on the balance to be struck between tax increases and spending cuts, and where they should fall. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .