Rishi Sunak today refused to back the Bank of England's plea for workers to shun big pay rises despite soaring inflation.

The Chancellor said it was 'not the government's role' to get involved in negotiations between companies and employees.

The thinly-veiled rebuke to Bank chief Andrew Bailey - who last week urged 'restraint' on salary demands to avoid fuelling the spiral in prices - came as it emerged the number of public sector staff earning more than £150,000 has increased by 13 per cent in a year.

The Cabinet Office admitted they had understated the figure by forgetting to add another 24 NHS workers.

There were 623 'high earners' as of September, up from 552 in 2020. 

In an interview as official data showed the economy went into reverse in December due to Omicron, Mr Sunak distanced himself from Mr Bailey's stance.

'I don't think it's the government's role to get involved in conversations between private businesses and their employees about their wages,' he told Sky News. 

'I just don't think that's what a government in this day and age should be doing.'