PM urges boardroom pay restraint

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

And Mr Brown also urged MPs to follow the example of public sector workers by accepting a below-inflation pay rise when they vote on their own salaries.

Speaking to the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Brown hailed the three-year public sector pay deals which have seen 1.75 million workers such as nurses, teachers and doctors accept rises ranging from 2.2% to 2.5% at a time when inflation stands at 3.3%.

He told MPs: "There has got to be restraint in the private sector and there has got to be fairness at the top as well as the low-paid end of the spectrum...

"At the top of British business, people have got to accept their responsibilities as well. In the interests of the country we have got to keep inflation low."

MPs vote on an independent review which recommended inflation-busting 4.4% pay rises at Westminster. Ministers are urging them to reject the hike, offering them instead a package worth around 2.2%.

Mr Brown told the committee: "I hope that MPs will recognise that the settlements in the public sector for key workers have been around 2.3%, 2.4%, 2.5% when they vote on this year's pay in the House of Commons."

He warned: "In Britain historically, we have had a huge inflation problem because we allowed inflation too easily to creep back into the system domestically and then we had, on top of that, the wages spiral.

"It is very much in the interests of everybody in the country that we avoid what is an internationally-generated problem of inflation - and everybody knows it comes from oil and food prices around the world - becoming a wages problem in the future."

Mr Brown said he was "very concerned" about the pressure on families from rising prices at the petrol pump and supermarket tills.