Senior staff at Manchester council have been awarded pay rises of up to 60% while blaming the Tories for cuts in the city. While other staff see a standard 1% increase, council chiefs such as the “Head of Children and Families” will be receiving another £30,358 on top of their £50,442 salary – rising to £80,800 overall. Five staff are getting pay bumps of up to 12.5% to £125,000. In all, the pay rises for council fat cats will cost Manchester taxpayers £112,895. Richard Leese, who has now led Manchester’s Labour council for 20 years, moaned about t’cuts last year, claiming “I think it’s going to hit the poorest people in our country and it’s bad news for Manchester.” Austerity? What austerity? Wonder what wannabe Manchester mayor Andy Burnham thinks…

UPDATE: John Leech, former LibDem MP in Manchester, comments:

“These increases are frankly disgusting. The council is now clutching at straws because they’ve been caught dishing out indefensible pay rises. They are now trying to justify these enormous pay rises at a time when other members of staff are getting just 1 per cent, and residents are being told that services have to be cut.”