James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labour’s thin blue line on pay

At first glance, Labour’s decision to pick a politically damaging fight over police pay when avoiding it would cost £40 million at most is bizarre. But as Michael White explains in The Guardian this morning, police pay is just the first public sector pay battle that Labour will have to fight.

With the public finances in a battered shape and inflation rearing its ugly head, the government has to keep a lid on public sector pay.  So, expect a series of rows like this one over the coming year. The problem for Gordon Brown is that these fights are going to alienate Labour from a key part of its voting bloc just at the time when it needs every vote that it can get. The discontent of these public sector workers is an area that the next Lib Dem leader can look to profitably exploit.  

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