Gordon Brown today appeared to hint that a controversial deal offering public sector workers the chance to retire at 60 might have to be renegotiated, while trying to avoid getting dragged into a heated political row over pensions.

Union leaders have revived the threat of a national strike if the Government turns its back on a deal reached only last month with Alan Johnson, the Trade Secretary, allowing current staff - potentially three million public sector workers - to retire at 60.

That deal was dismissed as "unacceptable" by a leader of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as the employer organisation's annual conference opened in London this morning.

Referring to the main recommendation expected from this week's Turner report on pensions, the CBI president John Sunderland said that the Government could not expect private sector workers to work until the age of 67 while civil servants and health and education workers saw their retirement age cut.

Mr Sunderland, chairman of the food giant Cadbury Schweppes, said: "Government must treat everyone equally and fairly - it cannot expect private sector employees to work until 67 to finance the pensions and early retirement of public sector employees who retire on inflation-proofed final salary pensions at 60.

"In an era when society as a whole can no longer afford such schemes, this is totally unacceptable."

The Chancellor skimmed over the issue in his own speech to CBI delegates, saying that the issue on pensions was not "reform versus the status quo". "There must be reform," he said. "The debate ahead will show that the issue is how best we achieve the right reforms, reforms which are sustainable, fair and affordable."

In a subsequent question and answer session, Mr Brown said that the report prepared by Lord Turner of Ecchinswell's Pensions Commission, due out on Wednesday, would be the starting point for a national debate on the pensions system.

Pressed on the deal giving public sector workers the right to retire at 60, he added: "That will be part of the debate."

That stance could put Mr Brown at odds with Tony Blair, who will address the conference tomorrow. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said this morning that No 10 was not planning to "tear up" the agreement with public sector unions.

He said: "If you look at occupational pensions in the private sector, in 40 per cent of them people retire at 60. If you look at the pattern of new agreements in the private sector, many of them have a situation where existing employees still retire at 60 while new entrants then retire at 65. That’s precisely what’s proposed in the public sector agreement.

"Ten per cent of public sector workers change jobs every year. In ten years’ time 70 per cent of those working in the public sector would be under the new scheme rather than the old scheme.

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