Britain's Conservative govt under pressure to ease austerity

Key government ministers are pressuring Conservative British Prime Minister Theresa May to ease austerity and remove a pay cap for public sector employees.

The Observer newspaper said Sunday that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is lobbying to lift the 1 percent cap on pay increases for National Health Service workers after a government report warned of staff shortages.

The Telegraph reports Education Secretary Justine Greening wants the government to abandon plans to cut per pupil spending, which would cost an additional 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion).

Meanwhile, Damian Green, May's deputy, says the government may need to reconsider university tuition fees to appeal to younger voters.

The pressure comes after a disastrous election in June in which May lost her parliamentary majority amid calls to end seven years of austerity.