David Cameron talks to Brendan Barber

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David Cameron has opened talks with the unions over how to tackle the cost of public sector pensions and pay, he said in an interview with The Telegraph.

The private meeting with Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), took place in the Conservative leader's Commons office. They had a "sensible" dialogue on the future of public sector pensions, Mr Cameron said.

In language that will be seen as an olive branch to the unions, Mr Cameron said he wanted to build the "maximum consensus" and "maximum coalition" over the issue.

That approach is likely to disappoint some in the Tory ranks who believe the unions need to be tackled head-on.

Mr Cameron's words come on the eve of the TUC conference in Liverpool and a day after Gordon Brown invited all the main union bosses to Chequers for talks.

The Prime Minister is unlikely to be impressed that the unions are prepared to enter into dialogue with the Tory leader.

It also indicates that some senior union figures have given up on Labour winning a fourth term and are resigned to having to deal with a Conservative government.