By Ode Idoko. London
The Prime Minister of England, Mr. Boris Johnson has dashed the hopes of millions of country’s workforce saying pay rise will cause price of commodities to spiral out of control and cancel out the benefits of such pay rise.
Johnson stated this yesterday as teachers, nurses and doctors threaten to go on strike unless they are handed double-digit hike in their salaries. Mr Johnson dismissed calls for public sector staff to get rises above 3% even as prices of household items and housing are rising at 9.1% annually and tipped to exceed 11% later this year.
Speaking at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, the troubled Conservative Party leader dispelled fears that employees might be spared a real-terms pay cut. He insisted he had to ‘be realistic with people’ about how restraint on salary rises was needed to avoid fuelling inflation.
Asked if teachers, doctors and nurses should only be getting 3% hikes, he replied “I’m not going to give a comment on each offer or suggestion that the pay review bodies may make. But what I would say to you is that, at a time when you’ve got inflationary pressures in an economy, there’s no point in having pay rises that just cause further price rises because that just cancels out the benefit.
“I know that people will find that frustrating. but I’ve got to be realistic with people about where we are. I think – I’m pretty certain of this – that our inflationary pressures will abate over time, and things will start to get better.”
He insisted the government was “taking the sensible and responsible decisions to have the strongest possible economic recovery” from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recently, Sahelian Times reported that The British economy has been going through some turbulent lately with last week strike by tens of thousands of rail workers over pay, pensions and working conditions.
There are fears of a summer of discontent as other unions consider strike action. For instance, teachers and nurses are considering walkouts if their pay demands aren’t met. The Government is resisting calls for decent pay rises for hard-working public sector staff – as they argue it could drive up inflation.
Brits are facing spiralling cost of living pressures as the consumer price index measure of UK inflation climbed to 9.1% – its highest level in 40 years. Bank of England economists are expecting inflation to rise to an eye-watering 11% in the autumn, when the energy price cap is also due to rise again.
