Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss has abandoned plans for lower wages for public sector staff outside London in a screeching U-turn.
The frontrunner ditched the controversial proposals in the face of a furious backlash, with critics warning it could leave nurses, teachers and other public sector workers poorer.
As part of a "war on waste" in Whitehall, Ms Truss had suggested paying workers less if they live in areas of the country where the cost of living is lower, meaning people outside London and the South East would earn less.
The Truss campaign said the idea to tailor pay regionally would initially apply to the civil service but could be expanded to public sector workers over time.
In the small print of its press release - which team Truss later accused journalists of misrepresenting - it said the idea could save an estimated £8.8billion if it were adopted for all public sector workers in the long term.
One expert branded it a "war on Workington" rather than Whitehall, as the entire civil service pay bill is £9billion - meaning the estimated £8.8billion saving would have to include staff like nurses and teachers.
Ms Truss junked the flagship policy only hours after it had been announced, after she was accused of "levelling down" by critics.
Speaking on a campaign visit in Dorset, she said: "I'm afraid that my policy on this has been misrepresented.
"I never had any intention of changing the terms and conditions of teachers and nurses.
"But what I want to be clear about is I will not be going ahead with the regional pay boards. That is no longer my policy."
Pressed on whether it was an error of judgement, she said: "I'm being absolutely honest, I'm concerned that people were worried - unnecessarily worried - about my policies and therefore I'm being clear that the regional pay boards will not go ahead."
Earlier, her spokeswoman said: “Over the last few hours there has been a wilful misrepresentation of our campaign.
“Current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained. Anything to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.
“Our hard-working frontline staff are the bed rock of society and there will be no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers.”
But a source in Team Sunak said: "This wasn't a mistake, Liz wanted this in 2018 as CST [Chief Secretary to the Treasury].
"The lady is for turning."
The row marks the first big mistake from Ms Truss, who had been steaming ahead of her rival Rishi Sunak in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Her campaign had picked up heavyweight Tory backers such as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and former contender Penny Mordaunt, while also polling well with members.
But her announcement last night of plans to pay workers in cheaper regions less was met disbelief.
Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said he was "actually speechless" at the proposals as he led a furious Tory backlash.
"There is simply no way you can do this without a massive pay cut for 5.5m people including nurses, police officers and our armed forces outside London," he said.
"So much that we’ve worked for in places like Teesside, would be undone."
Health Minister Maria Caulfield branded the pledge a "disaster".
She tweeted: "Regional pay for public sector workers such as nurses, doctors and police officers would be a disaster. If you are doing the same job you should be paid the same wage whether you are in London or Leeds."
Former Welsh Secretary Simon Hart attacked the plans - warning it would hammer Wales, where the next Tory hustings is due to take place.
He said: "Under these plans Wales is worst hit, with 430,000 workers including police officers & armed forces facing a near £3000 pay cut.
"This would be levelling down."
Steve Double, Tory MP for St Austell and Newquay, said the "terrible idea" would be "hugely damaging to public services in Cornwall, where we already struggle to recruit NHS staff".
"The billions saved would be coming straight out of rural economies. This is levelling down not up," he said and vowed to back Mr Sunak.
North West Durham MP Richard Holden, another supporter of the ex-Chancellor, said Ms Truss's policy would "kill levelling up".
Labour analysis had suggested the move would lead to a £7.1 billion hit to local economies across Yorkshire, the North and the Midlands.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the U-turn "exposed exactly what Liz Truss thinks of public sector workers" across the country.
She said: "Her proposal - and the fact she pushed for a similar change in 2018 when she was a Treasury minister - reveals her priority would be to slash the pay packets of working people.
"That would suck money out of local economies and send our communities backward.
“12 years of the Tories and this is what we’re left with. They offer nothing but more of the same. Britain deserves better.”
The Mirror revealed last month that Ms Truss had urged officials to "speak softly but carry a big stick" on public sector pay during her time as a Treasury minister.
The former Chief Secretary said she wanted to make pay deals for nurses, teachers, soldiers and the police "so complicated that no-one knows what the overall figure is".
