"What a strange question. Why do you ask?" I was curious.
"No, give me an answer. Should we have twice as much to eat here in Downing Street as your country cousins?" Arturo persisted.
"Of course not! We all need the same amount of food. Why are you harping on about this?"
Arturo pointed me towards the computer screen being looked at by one of the Interns. It was on the Financial Times. There was a headline:
Coalition faces backlash on regional pay
Now I understood why he was so exercised. He'd been very agitated at the time of Georgy's Autumn Statement when the idea was first mooted. We'd discussed it but assumed it had been dropped. Now, it seems it's even worrying the LibDems! MPs such as Adrian Sanders, Lib Dem MP for Torbay, John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington, John Pugh, Lib Dem MP for Southport and Andrew George, Lib Dem MP for St Ives are all opposed to the scheme. They see it as fragmenting the public sector. They think it will increase poverty in already deprived communities.
We know that 'Wailing Lad' Clegg is in enough of a pickle (not Eric Pickles - you understand!) because of failing support in the country. Now, if Georgy Osborne's ideas of regional pay are pushed through - 'Wailing Lad' Clegg will loose even the small support his party still retains!!
The idea of paying salary/wage differentials to different regions has caused quite a kerfuffle. It would mean that places like Cornwall, Wales, the North-East and Scotland would see their public sector workers get lower salaries than those living in London.
The argument behind the 'cunning plan' is this:
Lower living costs = lower pay
Higher living costs = higher pay
Even those public sector workers living in large cities in the regions will have more pay than those, doing identical jobs, living in smaller towns!
Will Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi and Lidl change all the pricing on their goods. At the moment, for example, a bar of chocolate in Tesco in West London will cost about £1.70. An identical bar of chocolate in towns such as Truro, Aberystwyth or Aberdeen will also cost £1.70.
Petrol prices will vary from the North of England to London but, on average, those living in rural areas have greater distances to travel and there are fewer means of public transport than in London and the cities.
So, Georgy Osborne, where's the living cost variation in such cases? How will you get public sector employers to tweak their pay rolls to match regional differentiation? It would be a nightmare! You'll have to increase the Accounts and Payroll departments' salaries!!!
The Mail Online had an article by Tim Shipman on this topic in December, under the headline: Public sector staff in lower paid regions facing wage cut as Osborne axes national pay deals
Shipman wrote:
Plans that could slash pay by up to 10 per cent for public sector workers in poorer parts of the country will be introduced within 16 months, George Osborne announced yesterday.
The Chancellor demanded an end to national pay rates for teachers, nurses, prison officers and civil servants by April 2013, ramping up the Government’s confrontation with the unions.
So, a teacher living in Tredegar will be paid a good deal less than one teaching in Guildford. We know that mortgages are higher in London and the Home Counties than in Wales but does this justify a regional pay differential?
The article continues:
The move was swiftly denounced by the unions. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘When the Chancellor talks about localised wage negotiations, what he really means are deep pay cuts in areas of high unemployment.http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2071482/Public-sector-staff-lower-paid-regions-facing-wage-cut-Osborne-axes-national-pay-deals.html#ixzz1jeOTS6S2
‘This will suck demand out of local economies, increase joblessness and worsen the north-south divide.’
Gail Cartmail, Unite’s assistant general secretary, said: ‘Employing public servants on the lowest possible pay is part of the Tory blueprint for privatisation.
‘George Osborne wants to drive down pay to clear the way for private companies to take over our public services.
‘There is absolutely no justification for a nurse in Newcastle being paid less than an equally qualified nurse in Oxford.’
Of course, the unions would feel angry at these threats to their members' well-being. But you must admit Georgy's idea is rather high-handed!
The web site Politics.co.uk also had an item on this same topic. Under the headline: Regional pay would drive down wages and depress economies it quoted the Public and Commercial Services Union as follows:
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Regional public sector pay is the exact opposite of what our local economies need.http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/pcs-public-and-commercial-services-union/article/regional-pay-would-drive-down-wages-and-depress-economies
"Instead of allowing pay to be driven down to the lowest level, ministers should be looking to increase pay and living standards of everyone, to put money in people's pockets to help our economy to grow."
All in all, Georgy, this seems like a bad idea! Conservatives have never been the flavour of the month in the far South-West, the North East, Wales or Scotland. Your plan of regional pay will alienate people from these regions still more.
The Coalition needs the LibDems. Their support has, in the past, been in the South-West, parts of Wales and Scotland. For once, 'Wailing Lad' Clegg has seen the light! He is against regional pay differentials! He knows that if this plan is implemented it's the end of the LibDems.
Maybe, however, Georgy, this is a cunning plan of yours, after all. It has nothing whatsoever to do with money! It's your way of totally wiping out the LibDems!! I'd watch it though, Georgy, sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men come back to bite them!! It might also wipe out the Tories as well.
Talking of mice ....
'Bye'
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