We'd love to hand out rises... but we can't risk inflation

OUR PUBLIC servants are some of the best around. I know how hard they work, the fantastic job they do and the sense of public service they do it with. Our nurses, doctors and ambulance drivers save lives. Our teachers toil every day to prepare the next generation for the world of work.

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We would love to give them a massive pay rise, not just because it would be politically expedient and bring an end to the disruptive strikes we’ve seen over the past few months – but because we understand the suffering that inflation is causing for households across the country.

Inflation is the enemy. An insidious tax on everything we need, triggered by the pandemic and Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine. It affects everyone, particularly those on the lowest incomes, cannibalises government budgets and leads to interest rate rises which push up mortgage costs.

That’s why we’ve made it our number one priority to stop prices rising at their current pace, putting together a plan that will halve inflation this year. We need to do everything we can to stick to that plan and tackle the root cause of people’s pain.

That means levelling with the British public about that fact that inflation-busting pay rises would simply prolong the agony.

I KNOW times are tough but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Many commentators hope inflation has now peaked and there is cautious optimism the Bank of England’s recent interest rate rise to four per cent – the highest level since 2008 – may be one of the last.