Back in 2010, when everyone else was talking about the Ryder Cup, Mr Sargeant was heading off on a summer tour meet local public sector workers, taking with him a statement he'd called "Your Services, Your Say" but that back then, some re-christened "My Money, My Way".

BBC: Re-org local government? I wouldn't start from here

He's the public relations man at the local Air Force base who issued the quickly retracted "flying saucer" statement in 1947.

FORBES: Those Roswell Aliens Dropped In Everywhere

"We have clarified the intention of the Government's policy on public sector pay, as announced in the Chancellor's budget statement, and its implications for local government, " says the letter from the employers association's chief negotiator, dated 8 July.

BBC: Council workers 'betrayed' by pay freeze