WIREDGOV

Commenting on research on public sector pay and pensions published yesterday (Tuesday) by Policy Exchange, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This is fantasy politics based on flawed research and wholly driven by ideology.

'Comparing jobs in the public and private sector is notoriously difficult. Real experts such as Incomes Data Services, who do not have a right-wing axe to grind, dispute the claim that a public sector pay premium exists.

'And it is sheer fantasy to think that pay cuts for public sector staff in poorer parts of the UK would be used to generate private sector jobs in the same region. The Treasury would simply grab the cash - if there was any left once the cost of thousands of local pay negotiations had been absorbed.

'Taking money out of the pockets of already hard-pressed public sector workers would hit the private sector hard too, with everyone having even less to spend in local shops and businesses. That alone would take up to 100,000 jobs out of Britain's regions.

'And of course most big national employers in the private sector have national pay rates with an extra London weighting, just like the public sector. Real employers know that the Policy Exchange proposals simply don't work.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

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- Congress 2012 will be held at the Brighton Centre from Sunday 9 September to Wednesday 12 September 2012. The deadline for free media passes was noon on Wednesday 29 August. Credentials can still be applied for by completing the online form www.tuc.org.uk/mediacredentials but will now cost £50.