Balls supports public pay freeze

Ed Balls has angered the trades unions with his comments on public sector pay.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said Labour will support a pay freeze for public sector workers in order to help reduce the deficit.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Mr Balls says jobs have to come before higher pay.
But trade union leaders have accused Labour of failing to speak up for "ordinary people".
The government announced in November that public sector pay would rise by only 1% in the two years to 2015.
Mr Balls, who is due to give a speech on Saturday about his economic plans, says he endorses that decision.
He tells the Guardian that for now, Labour cannot make a commitment to reverse any of the government's cuts.
"It is now inevitable that public sector pay restraint will have to continue through this parliament," he said.
"Labour cannot duck that reality and won't.

"There is no way we should be arguing for higher pay when the choice is between higher pay and bringing unemployment down".

The BBC's political correspondent Ben Geoghegan says Mr Balls's comments are a clear attempt to counter the accusation that Labour lacks a credible plan for dealing with the deficit and that they've spent too much time defending policies which would involve more public spending.
"A big task" But Mr Balls's comments are expected to anger many public sector workers and trade unionists.
Mark Serwotka, the leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, says his stance is "hugely disappointing" and accused the Labour Party of "emulating the Tories" on many issues.
"Instead of matching them on the cuts they should be articulating a clear alternative and speaking up for public sector workers and ordinary people in society," he said.
The president of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Alex Gordon, says Mr Balls's decision to back the public sector pay freeze will cost Labour votes.
"What Ed Balls is announcing is that Labour's given up on opposing those policies," he said.
"I think from the trade unions' point of view, what we're going to be asking is if Labour doesn't want to be the opposition, then where is the opposition going to come from to this government?
"Our members aren't going to stand by and take another two years of this kind of punishment and then turn out at the ballot box in 2014 and meekly vote for a Labour opposition that has supported these punishing cuts."
Mr Balls is due to give a speech to the Fabian Society in London on Saturday in which he is expected to admit Labour faces "a big task" to regain economic credibility and win back public trust.
He will say that Labour must offer an economic alternative which meets the twin challenges of boosting growth now through temporary tax cuts and investment in jobs and delivering reform over the longer term to build "responsible capitalism".