Unions suspend pension deal after Pickles' blunder

Just hours after preliminary agreements on pensions were secured, Unite, Unison and the GMB have pulled out of a deal. Unions allege local government secretary Eric Pickles attempted to add extra caveats to the deal after it was agreed. Pickles' suggestion to add a cap on employer contributions to local government pensions, put forward in a letter to the Treasury, has since been withdrawn, but unions have yet to come back to the table. In a joint statement, the unions said: "In light of this confusion, we suspend our agreement, and are now seeking an urgent meeting with the governm...