:00:55. > :00:58.The Chancellor seems to think so and when he opens his red box on
:00:59. > :01:02.budget day is expected to say that local factors like the cost of
:01:02. > :01:07.living and how much private sector companies pay should be taken into
:01:07. > :01:10.account. But it's not popular among trade unionists. We are very, very
:01:10. > :01:14.angry about this. What George Osborne's effectively saying is
:01:14. > :01:18.that he wants nurses, care workers, hospital cleaners, who live in the
:01:18. > :01:21.Midlands and the north of the country to take a pay cut to fund
:01:21. > :01:24.his 50p tax cut for millionaires living in the south of the country,
:01:24. > :01:28.it's the politics of division and it shows that the Tories really are
:01:28. > :01:32.the nasty party. Independent review bodies will recommend whether local
:01:32. > :01:36.pay deals should apply to teachers and other public sector workers
:01:36. > :01:39.when they report back to the Government in July but alongside
:01:39. > :01:43.Wednesday's Budget the Treasury is expected to publish research that
:01:43. > :01:47.claims public sector workers earn on average 8% more than those in
:01:47. > :01:52.comparable jobs in the private sector. The gap is 18% in Wales,
:01:52. > :01:56.13% in Yorkshire, the Humber and the east of England and 0.5% in the
:01:56. > :01:59.south-east of England. It is odd that in the public sector
:01:59. > :02:02.you earn a different amount relative to costs of living and the
:02:02. > :02:08.private sector in different parts of the country. That has an effect
:02:08. > :02:10.on the economy, an effect on the quality of public services. Up to
:02:10. > :02:20.160,000 civil servants could be affected if local pay deals are
:02:20. > :02:21.
:02:21. > :02:28.introduced this year. The soldier accused of killing 16
:02:28. > :02:36.Afghan civilians last last weekend has been named as Staff Sergeant
:02:36. > :02:43.Robert Bales, 38. He is being held in a military prison in Kansas.
:02:43. > :02:46.A On Friday he was transferred from Kuwait to Kansas, the military's
:02:46. > :02:49.maximum security prison where charges will be filed and where, in
:02:49. > :02:53.time, prosecuters will indicate whether they'll seek the death
:02:53. > :02:57.penalty. The Afghan President has already
:02:57. > :03:00.raised the temperature, after meeting relatives of the dead,
:03:00. > :03:04.Hamid Karzai accused Washington of not sharing information and he
:03:04. > :03:11.appeared to echo the suspicions of villagers that more than one US
:03:11. > :03:14.soldiers had been involved. story of the village elders is
:03:14. > :03:18.entirely different. They believe it is not possible for one person to
:03:18. > :03:22.do that. That American officials deny, but
:03:22. > :03:25.they have not denied that Robert Bales was the soldier who went
:03:26. > :03:29.missing last last Sunday when 16 people were shot dead, including
:03:29. > :03:33.nine children. President Karzai has also
:03:33. > :03:37.questioned US tactics, he says American soldiers should be pulled
:03:37. > :03:42.back from Afghan villages, and end all night raids. In response, the
:03:42. > :03:50.White House says it will discuss those issues as the administration
:03:50. > :03:53.remains firmly in damage limitation mode.