British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday that government ministers would forego their annual pay rise to set an example to other public sector workers at a time of rising inflation. "Given the importance of public sector pay restraint at a time of economic uncertainty ministers will not be accepting any pay rise in 2008-2009," Brown said in a statement.
Brown proposed the pay freeze and senior ministers agreed to it at a meeting on Tuesday, Brown's spokesman added. The decision came as Britain's inflation rate rose in May to its highest since the Labour government came to power in 1997 and as many public sector workers are considering strike action over what they say are below inflation pay increases.
The 0.6 percent inflation rise took the annual rate up to 3.3 percent, forcing Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to write an open letter to the government explaining what the bank would do to bring inflation back to its 2 percent target. Ministers had been due a 1.5 percent pay increase in 2008-2009, the first tranche of a three-year settlement of 7 percent for senior civil servants.
They will still receive a pay rise in relation to their jobs as members of parliament. The government also accepted recommendations of 2.2 percent for senior military officers and very senior health service managers next year, and an average increase of just over 2.5 percent for judges.
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