Tories hint at plan for NHS wage freeze

London: The political row over public spending has switched back to the Tories after shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley declared the NHS cannot afford "inflationary" pay rises for staff.

Labour and health unions seized on his remarks as proof the Conservatives were planning a real terms pay freeze for doctors, nurses and midwives.

Lansley's comments came as David Cameron warned the Government should start making budget savings now to ease cuts later.

Gordon Brown on Wednesday night admitted for the first time that "cuts" to public spending would be needed. Cameron said: "I do think that one of the ways to avoid very deep cuts in the future is to make a start now."

Lansley ran into trouble after giving an interview in which he suggested health service pay should be set locally and separately from Whitehall budgets. His office then issued a clarification statement, declaring that, "Future NHS allocations will not be able to accommodate inflationary staff costs."

It added: "We urgently need to move to a situation where the NHS delivers more for less, which will mean rising productivity and lower unit costs."

Lansley's office insisted by "inflationary staff costs" they did not mean "above-inflation." "What we are saying is the NHS in future years will not be able to afford massive pay rises," a spokesman said.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "Once again, Andrew Lansley is all over the place, showing the chaos at the heart of Conservative spending plans. First he says NHS pay can be set without reference to the overall government budget, which anyone who works in the service can tell you is absurd. Now, under pressure to explain this amazing statement, he hints at pay cuts for NHS staff."