Philip Hammond claims public-sector workers are ‘overpaid’ causing another cabinet clash

PHILIP Hammond clashed with Cabinet colleagues after claiming public-sector workers are “overpaid”.

The Chancellor refused to lift the one per cent cap on wages, saying they get more dosh than private employers - and better pensions.

He stunned fellow ministers with the force of his language, which one described as "inflammatory".

Mr Hammond declared: “Public-sector workers are overpaid when you take into account pensions." He then described train drivers as “ludicrously overpaid”.

His outburst came after he sparked a sexism storm by saying driving trains is so easy "even" a woman can do it.

It will fuel public anger over the government's response to public demands for an end to austerity.

Five million public-sector workers have seen their incomes fall in real terms over the last seven years and many ministers blame the squeeze for the Tories’ disastrous election performance.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation, warned yesterday that failure to give officers a proper pay rise will lead to a recruitment crisis that would hit public safety.

Last night the Treasury confirmed the chancellor told his colleagues that public-sector workers enjoyed a “10 per cent premium” in income over private-sector workers because of their pensions but denied he used the word “overpaid”.

However, five different sources say he did use the word and revealed that the PM and foreign secretary both blasted his choice of words.

A cabinet source said: “Philip used a fairly inflammatory phrase. He said they were overpaid.

"That caused some general astonishment. His overall tone was that we shouldn’t give them more cash because they are overpaid. Later in the meeting both Boris Johnson and the PM said we should not say public-sector workers are overpaid.”