So we read in the Observer a pay freeze should be imposed on Britain's six million public-sector workers, the head of the government's spending watchdog says today. He also accuses party leaders of failing to be honest with the public about the need for cuts, even in health and education.
We learn that , Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, says he has not heard any politician admit that "severe pay restraint" is one of a number of measures necessary to rebalance public finances, which could also include job cuts. "Nothing should be off limits," he warns.
This sounds potentially harsh particularly when public-sector unions have reacted angrily to Bundred's intervention. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said the investment in education was to redress decades of underfunding.
Keates added: "The idea that you have to have some equity of misery, that because the private sector is suffering the public sector must too, is disgraceful. What it is doing is not understanding the role of public services in a recession - to sustain and rebuild the economy."
From my point of view the public sector cannot divorce itself from the new realitties.
Fundamentally it is worth reflecting that the UK economy has been sustained by rising house prices and now that has stopped a lot of people have got to get real.
We now entering a phase of conflict between public sector workers and the politiciians. This may not happen before the election but it will happen.