Decisiveness is not the watchword of Gordon Brown’s government. Whether it’s election announcements, treaty signings or the options for Northern Rock, the prime minister has shown a surprising lack of leadership skills.
There is one area of policy, however, where he has been firm and resolute. Both as chancellor and PM, Brown has insisted that public sector pay rises be capped at 2%. Inflation has to be kept under control, he stresses, and public servants have to do their bit.
So police officers have seen their pay rise staged and effectively limited to 1.9%, despite their review body recommending a 2.5% increase. Nurses, civil servants and prison officers have also suffered from the staging process.
Meanwhile, Brown is pushing MPs to accept a similar deal for their own pay – although this will be subject to a Commons vote.
It came as somewhat of a surprise, then, that teachers were this week awarded an increase of 2.45%, with further rises of 2.3% in 2009 and 2010. Schools Secretary Ed Balls described the award as ‘fair and affordable’.
The announcement led to confusion across the public sector and understandable anger from the Police Federation.
There was no explanation as to why an exception was being made. Balls said that teachers were the ‘backbone’ of the education system, but it could be argued that the government lacked the backbone to take on the teachers.
The teaching profession is, of course, able to take strike action. This power is currently denied to police officers, and makes it easier for ministers to play hardball.
But what it leaves is uncertainty. If teachers can breach the limit, then so can other public sector employees.
Council workers will now feel they can push harder for an above-inflation rise. Local government unions tabled a 6% pay demand this week – they won’t achieve this, but they’ll be determined to exceed 2%.
The government’s inconsistency will make it much harder to clamp down on public sector pay. It also leaves the prime minister open to further accusations of weakness and dithering – something that his political opponents will exploit to the full.
