Public Sector pay rise announced

The government has announced a pay rise for millions of public sector workers.

Police and prison officers are set to receive a 7 per cent rise, teachers 6.5 per cent and junior doctors 6 per cent.

Treasury minister John Glen told parliament that he had accepted the recommendations of the pay review bodies.

The prime minister said the rises would not be funded by more borrowing or raising taxes.

Sunak said that the government would raise over £1 billion by increasing charges for migrants coming to the UK when they apply for visas and the levy they pay to access the NHS.

The pay awards for the education department are set to be fully-funded, but it is not yet clear how these will be achieved.

The rise for teachers and police will come into force from September and for doctors, dentists and police the rise will be backdated to April.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "By accepting the pay review body recommendations and then not funding them the government is putting its departments between a rock and hard place - they now have to choose between paying workers a half-decent salary or cutting services in already underfunded public services."