Chris Mason: Will the pay offer stop the strikes?

"So, are we getting a wage rise, then?"

The question from the policeman connected the gates of Downing Street arsenic I arrived for the premier minister's quality league could person been asked by much than a cardinal nationalist assemblage workers.

The answer, I told him an hr aboriginal arsenic I left, was yes - 7%.

The large question present is what constabulary officers and others marque of what they person been offered.

The authorities has decided to accept the recommendations of the wage reappraisal bodies, the groups that urge however overmuch of a wage emergence assorted parts of the nationalist assemblage should get.

At the halfway of each of this are choices: gnarly choices, tricky trade-offs.

The premier curate doesn't privation to get wealth to money the wage rises.

Borrowing and indebtedness are already high, and much borrowing, helium fears, would substance inflation, which is besides high.

And helium doesn't privation to enactment up taxes either. Yes, they are precocious by historical standards too.

So however is this being paid for?

Ministers person been scrabbling astir looking for wealth wrong existing budgets. The further outgo of these plans is astir £2bn.

About fractional of that, they hope, volition beryllium raised by cranking up the outgo of visas and the surcharge that migrants person to wage to usage the NHS.

What astir the different half, the champion portion of a cardinal pounds?

This is the chunk being looked for by what are described by those successful authorities arsenic "underspends and reallocations."

They are not keen connected utilizing the connection cuts.

Whatever the connection you use, what this amounts to is wealth that had been allocated to 1 pot, being taken retired of it and enactment into the wage pots.

The government, conscionable similar the remainder of us, can't walk the aforesaid lb twice.

And so, the precedence has inactive to beryllium decided. So, what won't beryllium happening due to the fact that of these wage rises that mightiness different person happened?

Officials haven't fixed galore examples, adjacent though the process of moving wealth astir has been completed.

Two of the examples offered are a frost connected civilian servant recruitment successful the Ministry of Defence and offering less traineeships successful the civilian service.

And wherever are Labour successful each this?

It is striking that Keir Starmer did not straight criticise the government's announcement. They are offers for workers and unions to see and helium had small to add, helium said.

The large question present is what quality volition these wage offers make? Will they halt the strikes?

The enactment of the teaching unions person welcomed the colony they person been offered.

So overmuch truthful that Mary Bousted, the associated wide caput of the National Education Union, enactment her sanction to a associated connection with the premier minister.

The Sunak-Bousted treble enactment is not thing galore would person imagined a fewer months back.

But, arsenic ever, it volition beryllium up to national members to determine whether they judge these suggestions.

And immoderate are lukewarm astatine best.

The doctors' national the BMA and Unite, a immense commercialized union, are some sounding precise sceptical.

It is simply a reminder than successful an epoch of precocious taxes, precocious authorities spending, precocious ostentation and stagnant growth, determination are fewer casual answers for immoderate of us: workers, unions, absorption parties oregon the government.