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Theresa May secretly agreed to perform a triple-u turn and give struggling nurses and firefighters a pay rise after all, it was claimed last night.

It would mark the third about face on the public sector pay cap in a single day.

A Tory spokesperson said on Wednesday that Mrs May had “heard the message” of the election and would listen to “pay review” which have branded the cap unsustainable.

But pressed for more detail later that same day, the PM’s official spokesperson walked back the idea, saying repeatedly: “Our policy has not changed”.

It comes amid claims of a bitter split between the Prime Minister and Chancellor Philip Hammond over the cap.

(Image: REUTERS)

Scrapping the cap would be a huge victory for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn , who made ditching the cap a centrepiece manifesto pledge.

Public sector workers such as nurses and firefighters had their pay frozen for two years thanks to Tory austerity in 2010. Rises have then been capped at 1% a year since 2012.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the Sun reports, 20 senior Tory MPs “marched on Number 10” demanding action on the pay cap.

A secret meeting with the MPs, who reportedly included former Tory chairman Grant Shapps , the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell said struggling public service workers would get a decent pay rise.

Mr Barwell also reportedly told the MPs that Mrs May agreed there needed to make “big changes of style and tone.”

Speaking on BBC Question Time last night, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox also said the government “will look at the pay review bodies” for public sector workers.

But he said the country still needed to “live within its means.”