GMB general secretary Gary Smith swatted away right-wing media attacks on workers today as he called for the Tory government to give public-sector staff the pay rise they deserve.

Asked by Sky News whether unions should agree to below-inflation wage deals from Downing Street despite soaring prices, Mr Smith instead called for ministers to look at themselves in the mirror. 

The damning intervention, which came ahead of the opening day of the union’s 2023 congress in Brighton, follows strike action by GMB members across austerity-hit NHS and ambulance services in recent months.