Pleas for wage restraint by the chancellor are in sharp contrast to the rhetoric in Bournemouth this week, where a conference of one of Britain’s largest unions advised 800,000 workers to strike over pay.

Unison is urging its local government members, who last month rejected a 2.45 per cent pay offer, to back industrial action in a ballot that closes on Friday. A Yes vote could see a two-day strike in July.