INSULT TO INJURY

Key workers and pensioners may face two-year pay freeze. Budget deficit of £337bn and worst recession since 1709

- BEN GLAZE

YOU ARE THE KEY North Middlesex Hospital staff, North London

AFTER weeks of being praised for their bravery and sacrifice in the coronavirus fight, NHS staff now find their reward could be a devastating assault on their pay.

Treasury documents reveal the Government is considering a public sector wage freeze for two years as Britain dives into the worst recession for 300 years due to the pandemic.

Furious unions accused ministers of hypocrisy and betrayal after Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak joined the weekly applause for key workers risking their lives to keep people safe and the country running.

It comes after the PM had vowed austerity would not be used to recover from the economic nightmare.

But the economy shrank by 2% in the first quarter of this year and Mr Sunak warned the pandemic could trigger a £337billion Budget deficit this year, compared to the predicted £55billion, leading to a “significant recession”. And the Treasury paper showed a pay freeze could save £6.5billion by 2023-24.

The elderly could be hit as the PM’s press secretary refused to rule out ditching the triple lock on pensions.

Police Federation chairman John Apter urged the Government not to “financially punish public sector workers”, who have suffered many deaths on the coronavirus front line.

As the number of fatalities yesterday rose by 494 to 33,186, he said: “Rishi Sunak and thousands of others have clapped for our key workers every Thursday. To even consider freezing their pay to help the financial recovery would be morally bankrupt and would be a deep and damaging betrayal.”