27 June Speaking after today's meeting with ministers over the government's plans to cut public sector pensions, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said:

"It was disappointing that the meeting proved to be no different to any of the others - it was a farce. Again the government has shown no interest in actually negotiating on any of the key principles at the heart of this dispute.

"And this is a dispute that is entirely of the government's making. We did not ask for pensions to be cut, we did not ask for public servants to be told they must work years longer and pay more for much less in retirement. Every independent analysis shows that public sector pensions are affordable now and in the future, and costs are falling in the long term.

"On Thursday (30) we will see hundreds of thousands of civil and public servants on strike and, on the experience of today's meeting and the last few months of government obstinacy, we fully expect to be joined by millions more in the autumn."