Tory chairman accused of telling public to ‘get on your bike’ to find better work

Jake Berry, the former chairman of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, told Sky News yesterday: “People know that when their bills arrive, they can either cut their consumption or they can get a higher salary, higher wages, go out there and get that new job.

“That’s the approach the government is taking so households can afford their bills,” he added.

Labour last night accused Mr Berry of telling the public to “get on your bike” to find a job, a reference to comments made by Norman Tebbit during a period of high unemployment in the Thatcher years.

“These comments show just how out of touch with reality Liz Truss’s Tories are,” said Angela Rayner, Labour's Deputy Leader.

“Jake Berry thinks people consigned to low pay can simply magically upgrade to a higher wage job. This is a Tory crisis: created in Downing Street, paid for by working people.

"While the Tories arrogantly blame working people and tell them once again to “get on your bike”, Labour has a plan to end in work poverty with a genuine living wage for all. We’ll make Britain work for working people.”

Meanwhile, public sector unions said that Mr Berry’s comments could see key workers in the NHS take his advice and leave their underpaid jobs, worsening the staffing crisis in the health service.

Christina McAnea, UNISON’s general secretary said: "The government is living on another planet.

"The super-rich are gifted colossal tax cuts, while the low-paid are threatened with benefit sanctions and told to find better paid work.

"If more key workers take the government's advice, there'll soon be no one left to run our hospitals, schools and care homes.”

Mr Berry went on to defend the Government’s plan to cut public spending, a move not ruled out by Liz Truss following pressure for the Prime Minister to show that she can keep borrowing under control when funding her multi-billion pound plan to cut taxes for high earners.

“I think every household understands that actually the reason this government is going for growth is because when you are struggling with your household budget, as many households are, you need to grow your personal household budget,” he said.

“In many cases people’s pay packets, that’s why we’re going for growth, but you also need to manage your expenditure and I don't think it’s unreasonable for the government to say that the public sector should look at its expenses in the same way that every single household is doing in this country.”