Pay offer an insult, say police

Rank-and-file police officers have accused ministers of betraying them with an "insulting" pay offer. Pay talks broke down last night after the Government offered police a 2.325 per cent salary increase, which the Police Federation said amounted to a cut in real terms. Its chairman, Paul McKeever, added: "The official side's one-year offer is insulting and adds to the sense of injustice experienced by police officers last year." More than 20,000 police officers staged a protest march through London over pay last year.

The latest development could strengthen calls within the service to seek the right to take industrial action, including striking.