UK right to keep focus on dealing with national debt

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May supports her finance minister Philip Hammond's decision to focus on dealing with the country's debts, May's spokesman said on Tuesday, amid growing political pressure to relax constraints on public sector pay.

On Monday, Hammond defended the country's strict cap on public sector pay, after senior members of the ruling Conservative Party had questioned whether it should be loosened.

"The chancellor was setting out a clear argument for the UK continuing to deal with its debts in a responsible way while also acknowledging the hard work and the sacrifice the British people have made to help us get the deficit down ... The prime minister agrees with him"," May's spokesman said.