Public sector pay in the dock

Sir Norman Bettison has, finally, shattered the myth that those who run public services have to be rewarded with the riches more normally associated with the private sector.

The chief constable of West Yorkshire police has shown the courage otherwise lacking among those who run Britain's services by admitting that pay for high-ranking public servants has spiralled out

of control.

The best leaders are, as he says, those who have a long-term vision for their organisation, rather than "some mercenary performance manager peddling a short-term fix."

His call for a pay freeze across the entire public sector, starting at the top before cascading down, should be listened to and debated.

As head of Yorkshire's largest force, he is paid 163,000-a-year but it is not just in his industry that restraint is needed, with those who run local authorities enjoying similarly gilded packages.

It should not be necessary to delay action or trim staff numbers, hitting services everywhere, when money can be saved quickly by reviewing pay for those at the top of the tree. This is particularly important in the police, where cutting the number of rank-and-file officers puts public safety at risk and can affect the whole of society.

Civilian and uniformed police staff must pay attention to Sir Norman's words. It may only have been two years ago when more than 22,000 off-duty officers could march through Westminster because of the decision by Jacqui Smith, then the Home Secretary, to limit the police pay award, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

Indeed, there is now a case not just for pay freezes at the top of the public sector, but pay cuts. Salaries of more than 100,000 should be a genuine rarity, rather than the routine. It is a problem for the winners of the General Election to tackle urgently – or Britain's angry voters will put them in the dock.