Civil servants balloted on strike

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More than 280,000 civil servants are to be balloted for strike action in a row over pay, the Public and Commercial Services Union has announced.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said Prime Minister Gordon Brown should "hang his head in shame" at the way civil servants were being treated.

In April, 100,000 civil servants walked out over plans to cap pay rises to below the inflation rate.

The 24-hour strike coincided with action by teachers' union the NUT.

Addressing his union's annual conference in Brighton, Mr Serwotka said Labour had come to power under the slogan "things can only get better", but for civil servants, things had got worse since 1997 - with job losses and pay cuts.

He said: "The treatment we have received at the hands of this government is an absolute disgrace - more privatisation than under Margaret Thatcher and John Major combined."