Osborne ready to abolish national pay bargaining

By Tim Montgomerie
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If you work in the public sector in Wales you are likely to earn an average 18% more than if you work in the private sector (and that's before pension privileges and job security is factored in). This makes it hard for private sector businesses in the principality to attract the most talented staff.

If you work in the public sector in the South East of England you often can't afford a decent home. This means schools and hospitals in the region can struggle to attract enough 'key workers'.

The reason for these tensions is national public sector pay scales. A doctor in Swansea gets paid the same money as a doctor in Swanage or Slough or Surbiton - even though the cost of living might be very different.

In last year's Autumn Statement George Osborne announced a review of national pay bargaining and it appears from this morning's press (see the FT (£)) that he plans to abolish national pay scales in Wednesday's Budgets. He'll introduce gradual change by freezing or curtailing public sector pay (perhaps only for new recruits) in less prosperous regions until some sort of public/private equilibrium is restored. The Government believes pay flexibility will produce more willingness among workers to move between Britain's regions but ther system could also become quite bureaucratic if pay scales are not properly devolved to local hospitals and public sector managers.

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Cameron attacks Ed Miliband as "weak, irresponsible and left-wing" during fiery PMQs

By Tim Montgomerie
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Adrian Chiles asked David Cameron the above question in a feature in Saturday's Guardian and the PM used his answer to reveal his disdain for his weekly joust with Ed Miliband. Many voters will agree. Today's exchanges between the two party leader were hardly edifying. The Speaker interrupted constantly asking MPs to calm down and stop shouting... although these interventions always seem more about Mr Bercow's thirst for TV attention than being in any way effective. In exchanges on public sector pensions David Cameron twice attacked Ed Miliband as "weak, irresponsible and left-wing". Ed 'Class War' Miliband responded by saying that the Chancellor spent more on his skiing holiday than a dinner lady earned in a week [I think he meant a year]. Tory MP Andrew Percy was disgusted and walked out. He tweeted his disgust:

The PM defended his pensions reforms and repeatedly cited Labour peer John Hutton who has endorsed their fairness. Mr Cameron attacked Ed Miliband for backing strike action when negotiations were ongoing. Neil Kinnock didn't even do that, he claimed. He insisted that meetings with trade unions were still underway. Discussions were held yesterday and will be held tomorrow, he continued. He said today's strike action had been a "damp squib". [Francis Maude has claimed that only a third of civil servants were striking].

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No Goldilocks moment as Government veers from appeasement to confrontation with unions

By Tim Montgomerie
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Hmmm. Not sure about Michael Gove's tough talk against the unions this morning. This is what the Education Secretary has said in a speech to Policy Exchange:

"On Wednesday, TUC leaders will call on their members to bring Britain to a halt.

Among those Union leaders are people who fight hard for their members and whom I respect.

But there are also hardliners, militants itching for a fight.

They want families to be inconvenienced.

They want mothers to give up a day's work, or pay for expensive childcare, because schools will be closed.

They want teachers and other public sector workers to lose a day's pay in the run-up to Christmas.

They want scenes of industrial strife on our TV screens; they want to make economic recovery harder; they want to provide a platform for confrontation just when we all need to pull together."

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It is likely that the army could secure Britain's borders if planned strikes go ahead, says Francis Maude

By Joseph Willits 
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Speaking on Sky's Murnaghan, and the BBC's Politics Show, Francis Maude suggested that the army could be used to help secure British borders if Wednesday's planned strikes over public sector pensions were to go ahead. Britain's image would be effected, he said, "if people travelling to Britain are subjected to inordinately long queues and inconvenience". The UK Borders Agency were "looking at all the options ... determined that we will have both secure borders and do everything we can to avoid disruption to travellers". A military presence at Heathrow would be a possibility given the likelihood of planned industrial action on Wednesday.

Maude was asked on the Politics Show by Jon Sopel, if he would like to give a message to TUC leader Brendan Barber:

“I’d say ‘Brendan, call it off now’. He said that we’d been talking incessantly. We have. There are conversations going on, discussions going on in these scheme discussions every day pretty much – there will be conversations on Tuesday, on Thursday – this is going on intensively. The unions have jumped the gun."

Maude accused Barber of "slightly let[ting] the cat out of the bag there - he said ‘there’s nothing you can you can say really now that can call it off’". James Kirkup in the Telegraph wrote that even the patient Maude, the "sardonic embodiment of world-weary calm" was getting impatient with the unions. In an interview with the Telegraph, Maude said:

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Osborne promises to "whatever it takes" to hit his deficit targets

By Tim Montgomerie
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Andrew Marr's two main guests this morning were the Chancellor and his Shadow. Their get-together coincides with an interview in which Ed Balls heaps praise on George Osborne as the Conservative Party's "best politician". Lord Ashcroft's overnight mega poll found that Mr Osborne enjoys a 56% to 44% lead over Mr Balls when it comes to economic trustworthiness but it also found that neither men were liked. Both are seen as smug and arrogant, in equal measure. 

Osborne's interview was not revelatory. See today's ConHome frontpage for the mass pre-briefing of Autumn Statement initiatives. He repeated familiar lines on sticking to Plan A, rebalancing the economy away from a dependence on financial services and ensuring that those with the broadest shoulders pay their way out of today's difficulties. He hinted that there might be more taxation of the wealthy in Tuesday's autumn statement but he also hinted that there'd be no retreat from withdrawing child benefit from 40p taxpayers. Higher wealth taxes are expected to fund relief for car and train commuters and also a new jobs scheme.

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David Cameron challenges Red Ed to condemn next week's public sector strikes

By Tim Montgomerie
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Operations that patients have been anxiously waiting for are being cancelled.

Parents are worrying about childcare as schools plan to close.

Emergency plans are being put in place to keep Britain's borders open but secure.

I am, of course, talking about the consequences of next week's planned public sector strikes. The last thing our economy needs is a wave of disruptive action but that is what Britain's public sector unions are planning.

In today's Sun the Prime Minister attempts to drive a wedge between the public sector workers who "do a brilliant job" and the union bosses who "are ordering millions of public sector workers to strike next week — even while talks are under way." Mr Cameron notes that "only a quarter of union members backed industrial action."

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The Coalition faces an uphill struggle to win support for public sector pension reforms

By Matthew Barrett
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A new poll released today by Survation shows the daunting task the Coalition faces to convince the public its pension reforms are the right way forward. The poll finds people trust trade unions almost three times as much as they trust the government to be truthful about pensions. Whilst the poll was conducted for the union Unite, the results are still worth considering, especially in light of the planned strike by more than two million public sector workers later this month.

The first finding to worry Ministers is that trade unions are trusted to "provide accurate information on the affordability of public sector pensions" by 31% of the public. The unions beat other groups - think tanks, the media, business leaders, politicians and the Coalition - to be the most trusted body on public sector pensions. The trust level is measured by how many people gave the body in question a positive score (4 or 5 out of 5) when asked how much they trusted said body. 

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Osborne tells the Sun he plans to take tough measures against unruly unions

By Matthew Barrett
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In a second pre-conference interview in this morning's papers (the first is covered here), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne told the Sun about measures he will take to "strike back" against the unions - which the paper says Mr Osborne will fight "head-on". Osborne's proposed measures aren't huge economic boosts, but they do address injustices in the current system. He also refused to rule out not raising the 4p tax hike on fuel scheduled for January and August 2012 - which certainly will be an economic boost to families. He apparently will:

• "Block new workers from taking bosses to industrial tribunals for unfair dismissal until after two years of service — it currently stands at one year".  Mr Osborne said "We talk a lot about trade union rights — but what about the right of the unemployed person to be given a shot at a job and a career? What about the rights of people currently sitting at home with nothing to do, desperate to get work, but the business can't afford to employ them because they fear they are going to be taken to the tribunal?"

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David Cameron sets out the three central arguments in the public sector pensions debate

By Tim Montgomerie
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Harry has already posted the full text of David Cameron's speech to the Local Government Association but I'm keen to highlight the three arguments he made for reform of public pensions. We'll all need to know these arguments for the coming confrontation with the public sector unions.

Argument one: We can't afford to go on like this

"In the 1970s, when a civil servant say retired at sixty, they could expect to claim a pension for around twenty years. Today, when they retire at sixty, they can expect to claim a pension for nearly thirty years – about a fifty percent increase on before. Now, obviously, more people living for longer is a great development for society. But more people claiming their pension for longer has a real life impact on our ability to pay for pensions. Indeed, we are already seeing the impact. In 2009, total payments to public service pensioners and their dependents were almost £32 billion – an increase of a third, even after allowing for inflation, compared to 1999."

Argument two: Taxpayers are paying too much towards public sector pensions

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Tory MPs, Fleet Street and TaxPayers' Alliance launch pre-emptive strike on trade unions ahead of "summer of discontent"

By Tim Montgomerie
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The Government may be cautious about direct attacks on the trade unions but this morning's newspapers give a sense of the coming confrontation between the powerful public sector unions and the people who depend upon public services. Both The Sun - under the headline 'Stop The Summer Of Hate' - and Mail give prominent attention to new research from The TaxPayers' Alliance which finds that 37 of the working class heroes who lead trade unions take home more than £100,000 in pay.

The Mail reveals that union leaders are holding secret talks with the protest movement UK Uncut at the TUC headquarters. Conservative MP Priti Patel condemned the talks which will also include the Coalition of Resistance (a group which celebrated the occupation of Tory HQ during the tuition fees protest):

"This is a very unwelcome and dangerously irresponsible move by the TUC. I fear this is the start of a concerted attempt to stage mass civil disobedience. It could end in riots."

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