Amidst mounting speculation that the UK government may finally be prepared to act, Stockport Liberal Democrats have put forward a motion to a meeting of the Council on Thursday this week calling for the Public Sector Pay Cap to be lifted.

Currently all public sector workers, including nurses, police officers and local government workers are subject to a 1% cap on any pay rises, despite the fact that inflation is running at nearly three times that amount, and many families continue to struggle as a result.

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Lib Dem Group at Stockport Town Hall and mover of the motion, said: “Frankly, it is a disgrace that public sector workers have been treated in this way for so long.

“When the cap was introduced, economic circumstances were very different, and it was only ever intended as a short-term measure. Instead, the Conservative government have continued with the policy and many public sector workers find their pay is falling behind that of employees in the private sector, which is simply unfair.

“We are calling on the government to do the right thing by the public sector and recognise the immense contribution of so many nurses, police officers and local government workers among others and give them a fair deal.

“It will simply not be good enough if government chooses to cherry pick individual groups of workers, it is about time they lifted the pay cap for all in the public sector“, concluded Cllr Hunter