LONDON (MNI) – A senior UK government minister pledged this morning
to engage with public sector trade unions over the impact of cuts in
government spending.
UK Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude told BBC Radio 4 that the
government “will listen very closely to what they say”, adding “we are
keen to engage and we do engage”.
Maude said that the implementation of the spending cuts, details of
which are due to be announced on Oct 20, would take place via a “genuine
process of dialogue and engagement”.
“But we are the government,” Maude added.
And ultimately there could be no disagreement about the need for a
rapid tackling of the budget deficit, he said, although there were
differences over “phasing” of the cuts there was no split over what the
“endpoint” should be.
“It was the clear advice of the governor of the Bank of England
was that we have to do it now,” Maude noted, referring to the comments
made by Mervyn King at his May Inflation Report press conference, when
he welcomed the government’s announcement that it would speed the pace
of deficit reduction.
Without swift action on the deficit interest rates would head up
and “choke off the recovery at birth,” Maude warned.
Maude’s comments come ahead of this week’s Trades Union Congress
conference in Manchester where calls for industrial action against the
cuts are set to take on a new stridency. BOE Governor Mervyn King is due
to address the TUC conference later this week.
The minister called for a “partnership” between the government and
trades unions to protect frontline services and get the deficit down.
–London Bureau; tel: +442078627492; email: dthomas@marketnews.com
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