The UK government has announced that it would lift a 1% cap on annual pay rises for its public sector workers for 2018/2019, reports BBC News. The government said police officers would get a 1% rise plus a 1% bonus, with prison officers getting a 1.7% rise - both funded from existing budgets. Public sector pay was frozen for two years in 2010, except for those earning less than £21,000 a year, and since 2013, rises have been capped at 1% - below the rate of inflation. Trade unions have criticised the lift as not being good enough as consumer price inflation rose to 2.9% this month. Unions had threatened nationwide strikes if the public sector pay caps were not lifted. Meanwhile, the Labour Party is set to challenge the government on public sector pay, claiming NHS staff should also see the cap lifted immediately. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn added that if elected, he would “give all workers the pay rise they deserve.”