The recent strikes and threat of further industrial action has really got under the Government's skin.

There is nothing like workers demanding a fair wage to get ministers rushing to the TV and radio studios to warn of impending economic doom.

The cost of everything is going up.

Food in the shops is rising at a very worrying rate.

Petrol and diesel prices are rocketing and the cost of gas and electricity is out of control for too many households.

Therefore, it is a perfectly reasonable request from workers to seek an increase in pay to keep up with the rising costs.

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UK Government ministers have been busy telling the public via television and radio appearances that pay increases are unaffordable.

Boris Johnson warned of a ‘1970s style wage price spiral’ which he said if wages chase prices there will be an economic crisis.

Prime Minister, here is the news. There is an economic crisis right now for millions of people in the country you govern.

Millions have been in a permanent economic crisis, but successive tory Governments and chancellors have not just ignored that but have pursued policies that have created it and exacerbated it.

It is not pay rises that are unaffordable. It is basic essentials like food, heating and fuel that is becoming unaffordable.

Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister, said: “We know that if public sector pay keeps going up then it will only keep inflation high for longer.”

Pay has not been going up, most of the country has suffered a pay freeze for several years.

Johnson and Raab may not realise this as MPs' most recent pay rise was in April this year when they got a rise from £81,932 to £84,144, a rise of more than £2000.

The increase alone will cover the expected total cost of household fuel bills as the cap for the average bill is set at £1971.

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In fact, looking at the last 12 years, since the Conservatives took office, the pay for MPs has increased by 28%, from £65,738 in 2010.

There can’t be too many workers who seen a similar increase in the same time.

No one in Government warned that to keep giving MPs more money was unaffordable and would lead to an economic crisis.

Now, when workers are seeking a pay rise, the Government turns on them and seeks to create division by branding legitimate, lawful industrial action as disruptive and militant.

And the news for Raab is that it is not pay for workers that “keeps going up”. What keeps going up is the pay for the chief executives of the biggest firms.

According to the High Pay Centre, earnings for the biggest of the big bosses is on the up again after a brief period of reflection during the pandemic.

In 2020/21 the FTSE 100 CEOs median pay was 67 times higher than the median employee pay.

For the lowest 25% of workers in the organisation the top boss pay was 93 times higher.

The industry with highest pay gap ratio was retail.

Yes, the bosses of the companies where prices are rocketing at the checkout causing misery for households have a gap where CEO pay is 113 times higher than the average wage of their workers.

Kerching!

The average UK salary in 2021 was £24,600, while full time earnings only was £31,000 which actually fell 0.6% from 2020.

Whatever comparison you want to use the result is the same.

It doesn’t matter how you look at it. The people who are earning the most, and we are taking in the millions of pounds here, are continuing to see their renumeration increase, while the masses are told they need to put up with pay restraint.

The CEOs eye-wateringly high pay is achieved despite there being some restrictions around payments in shares and bonuses.

But don’t worry the Government is looking at removing these restrictions to allow even more money to be funneled into the bank accounts of the most wealthiest of the super wealthy.

Boris Johnson’s office has been in touch with the Chancellor to look at removing restrictions that is now possible after the UK left the European Union.

But still, a pay rise for workers who are keeping the country running, we are told, is unaffordable.

What is unaffordable is low wages, and stagnating wages, leaving people unable to meet the cost of living.