The government’s public sector pay freeze is a betrayal

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves 11 Downing Street, London, ahead of delivering his one-year Spending Review in the House of Commons. Picture: Yui Mok (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

“In their courage and their bravery, we can see a better future” - Brent Council.

When everything broke down - they did not.

When the world stopped - they did not.

When this government went missing - they did not.

It was they who were there - and are still right there - on the frontline, keeping things going and saving lives.

So in this move to a new normal, when things open back up and we rid ourselves of this pandemic, we have to remember it was not the bankers or the billionaires, or the media execs or celebrities or sports stars (with a couple of exceptions); it was not them that we relied on to get us through this crisis.

It has been the nurses, the doctors, the teachers, the carers, the drivers, the essential store workers, the council staff; the people in hospitals and care homes, schools and supermarkets, from the trains and the buses - it was they, who held us up and kept us going. And we must never forget that.

That is why we - as Brent Council - passed a motion at our full council meeting last week thanking and defending the rights of our key workers.

But even then, that is not enough. We may have clapped for them, but that wasn’t enough. We owe them everything! And even then, it still wouldn’t be enough.

They put their lives on the line, they kept us afloat. They looked after us, our sick, our vulnerable, our elderly, our young. They kept things going.

They are the best of who we are.

And that is why it is even more shameful - frankly, a betrayal - for this Tory government to announce a pay freeze for our public sector staff.

Whilst they have handed contracts to their friends and overseen the shambles that is test and trace while the country sees one of the highest death rates per capita in the world, they now - after 10 years of austerity and stagnating wages - show their continual contempt for the real heroes of this country.

This government has let us know where they stand. It is not on the side of the people.