A HIGH Wycombe businessman confronted the Prime Minister and his deputy over the gulf between public and private sector pay on television yesterday.

Phil Joy spoke on a BBC programme hosted by Nick Robinson where the public quizzed David Cameron and Nick Clegg over this week’s budget.

The IT boss said: “The trouble with the public sector is it’s had it quite good for a very a long time.

“The pressures, risks and problems that the private sector face are nothing like the public sector faces.

“The problem that we’ve got is that quite often the salaries, perks, benefits that we have to offer our employees has to somehow match the public sector and that is just not possible.”

Mr Joy, managing director of HIPTAC Services based at the Cressex Industrial Estate, said: “My answer is bring parity between public sector and private sector.”

The Government announced a two-year pay freeze for public sector workers earning more than £21,000 in Tuesday’s budget.

Mr Cameron told the programme this amounted to a pay cut.

He said: “It is tough. I totally accept that and I am not trying to hide it from you.

“What I would say is that is we basically have a choice. We either have to have pay restraint or we are going to lose jobs.”

Mr Joy told The Bucks Free Press: "It was interesting because it was the first time it has ever been done.

"The questions were not vetted. It was quite refreshing to go on a programme where we didn't have to submit questions beforehand."

The firm was established six months ago and employs two people, he said.

Mr Joy said the PM and deputy PM were in broad agreement with his point and were right to stress that the lack of cash is driving the pay freeze for the public sector.

But he said: "What concerns me is that the public sector might not necessarily be taking that on board and we will go through a significant period of tricks, upheaval and public sector disruption."

Click the link below to watch Mr Joy on the BBC2 programme, Budget – 2010.