The Standard View: Higher taxes, more borrowing or cuts – the choice on public sector pay

" Treasury speak" is a branch of English spoken by just a handful of ministers and civil servants, and understood by even fewer. It is a world where "efficiencies" means "cuts", "investment" means "spending" and the "long-term" is anything greater than five years out. As junior doctors embark on the biggest strike in NHS history in a bitter dispute over pay, a week after teachers walked out, the Government appears set for more finance ministry arbitrage. To end the chaos, the Chancellor may now meet the recommendations of the pay review bodies, which for teachers represents a 6.5 per cent…