Labour leader candidates pressure PM over pay rise
THREE Labour leadership hopefuls have rejected a proposed pay rise for MPs, saying that they would not take the salary increases if they go into effect later this year.
Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper have all made clear that they oppose the recommendations of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which said earlier this week that MPs’ annual salaries will rise by 10.3 per cent, to £74,000, in September unless “new evidence” emerges in the next month.
Burnham tweeted yesterday: “I have always been clear that 10 per cent pay rise for MPs cannot be justified. I won’t accept it. Will turn down at source or give to local groups.”
Kendall, who first spoke out against the proposed increases in 2013, when IPSA originally suggested them, said yesterday that she would turn down the pay rise or donate the extra money to charity.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Cooper said yesterday: “Yvette thinks its wrong to have 10 per cent at a time when the deficit is still high and public services are about to be cut.”
“She thinks IPSA should withdraw it and the Prime Minister should step in to prevent it,” the spokeswoman added. “If it goes through she won’t take it, but she thinks IPSA and the Prime Minister should sort it out before that.”
The candidates’ positions put increased pressure on the Prime Minister, who, despite previously saying that the above-inflation pay rises were “simply unacceptable”, appears to be set to take the bump in his pay packet.
The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said yesterday: “He’s an MP, so if IPSA set the pay of MPs, he will take the pay that MPs get.”
“The bit of pay that he controls, ministerial pay, there was a five per cent cut in 2010 and a 10-year pay freeze,” the spokeswoman added, alluding to the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that he would extend the pay freeze for ministers introduced in the last government for another five years.