IT is right that public sector pensions are, like all public sector employee costs, essentially paid from out of the public purse.

But this is irrelevant to whether or not they are “unsustainable” or “afford-able”.

In May, the Commons Public Accounts Commit-tee, in its report on the impact of the 2007-2008 changes to public sector pensions, said these had contained projected future expenditure within param-eters that the Treasury considered “affordable” – but there was room for debate around what measures were set for “affordability”.

From the public sector workers’ view, the unions have only recently reached a reforming agreement within the boundaries of what the employer defined as “affordable”.

The measure used was long-term and sustainable. The employer gives the impression now of wanting to use the current anxieties about an essentially cyclical deficit to take a second bite at the cherry.

True, private sector pensions and final salary schemes have been under sustained attack.

But it is a problem we should address by improving private sector pensions, not by damaging those in the public sector.

Ian Gallagher, Secretary, Blackburn and District Trades Union Council.