JEREMY Corbyn has called on Theresa May to "see sense" and scrap the one per cent pay cap for millions of public sector workers.

Amid the threat of strikes by nurses and civil servants over the issue, the Labour leader told the Prime Minister at Commons Question Time that "warm words do not pay food bills".

Speculation is rife that Mrs May is planning to follow First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and end the long-standing policy for workers south of the border with an announcement in the Autumn Budget.

As thousands of health care staff staged a protest in Parliament Square, Mr Corbyn told MPs: “They are demanding that this Government scrap the one per cent pay cap.

“Poor pay means that experienced staff are leaving and fewer people are training to become nurses. There is already a shortage of 40,000 nurses across the UK. Will the Prime Minister please see sense, end the public sector pay cap and ensure that our NHS staff are properly paid?”

Mrs May insisted the UK Government “absolutely value the work of all those who work in the public sector—nurses, teachers and others—who are doing a good job for us, day in and day out, often in difficult and harrowing circumstances”.

She added that the Government would “continue to balance the need to protect jobs and public sector workers with the need to ensure that we are also protecting and being fair to those who are paying for it, including public sector workers”.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said lifting the one per cent cap would cost "a lot of money" but noted how it could not be kept in place forever.

Paul Johnson, the think-tank's director, said if public sector pay were to rise in line with inflation for the next three or four years, it would cost the public purse £6 billion to £7 billion more than continuing with the cap.

As the PM and Labour leader engaged in exchanges in the Commons, the Public and Commercial Services union[PCS] announced it would ballot civil servants for strikes in protest over the cap.

The union said civil service pay had fallen by between £2,000 and £3,500 in real terms from 2010 to 2016 because of the Government's pay policy.

PCS officials said there was "escalating chaos" in the Government, and demanded that the cap was scrapped and replaced with pay rises of at least five per cent for all public sector workers.

Mark Serwotka, the union’s General Secretary, said: "The Tories have no mandate to continue with the pay cap. PCS has consistently argued that capping public sector pay is counter-productive, unjust and unnecessary.

"Civil servants keep this country running, yet they have seen cuts to their pay, pensions and redundancy terms as a result of the Government's austerity policies. It is only right that our members have their say and send the Government a clear message over pay.

"We are clear, pay misery for public servants must end and the Government must restore public sector pay to levels that allow working people to live with the dignity and security they deserve."

Thousands of nurses demonstrated in Westminster as part of a campaign by the Royal College of Nursing[RCN], which has warned of industrial action if the cap is now removed.

Rachael Labourne, 46, who works as a nurse, midwife and social worker in Hereford and Powys, Mid Wales, said she wanted "fair pay" for nurses who have felt increasing financial pressure in recent years.

"Both my husband and I are nurses and we're finding it difficult now to support our family but I'm passionate about what I do," she said.

Earlier, Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said the Government fully understood public sector workers had taken their "share of the pain" of deficit reduction and signalled that the Chancellor was looking at the issue.

"What he'll be looking for is to ensure that public sector workers aren't discriminated against," he added.