Our key workers were rapturously cheered in the early weeks of the pandemic for their sacrifice and effort from windows, balconies and pavements. But prime ministerial platitudes are not legal tender to pay the household bills, rents and mortgages of key workers whose efforts will now be marked with more real-terms pay cuts. The weekly clap was always tinged with hypocrisy, as Tory politicians who spent the best part of a decade attacking the jobs, salaries, pensions and terms and conditions of public-sector workers joined in. Less than five months ago Johnson promised that his government would “not go back to the austerity of 10 years ago”, but Boris Johnson is not a man known for sticking to his word. While the Tories have revealed that there is money for their priorities, waving the union jack may not prove an adequate distraction from this attack on public-sector workers.

Source: The Guardian November 20, 2020 15:53 UTC