Pay cap

The government suffered a defeat on NHS pay in the House of Commons this afternoon, a defeat that seems to have significantly changed Parliamentary convention. It came amid a row over claims that the Prime Minister made about police pay during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Seven years of capped pay for public sector workers. Today, police officers were told they’d get a one per cent rise and a one per cent bonus, with prison officers securing a 1.7 per cent rise. But both deals are well below inflation, and the extra money for police is to come from their existing…