Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham said today, “I have always been clear that (a) 10% pay rise for MPs cannot be justified. I won’t accept it. (I) will turn down at source or give to local groups.”
Back in 2013, fellow leadership contender Liz Kendall said, “I’ve said all along that when my constituents face a cost of living crisis, and many other public sector workers are having to accept a pay freeze, it would be completely wrong for IPSA to decide to increase MPs pay by 11 per cent. I oppose it, I’ll try and change it, and if IPSA refuses, I won’t take it.”
Hmm. I worked in the DWP for 39 years, doing what I felt was a tough job on the frontline and never got close to earning the national average wage. For part of my career, our wages were compared with outside workers, albeit outside workers near the bottom of the pay scales and we never got close to what I believed was a fair rate of pay. On a number of occasions, the government simply ignored the pay review bodies that were supposed to provide fairness and for most of my career, there was no comparison with outside workers at all. We just got the bare minimum the government thought it could get away with. I didn’t think that was fair at all.
I always thought it would be far better if the wages of public sector workers were decided upon independent pay review bodies, comparing them with private sector workers and taking account of the jobs that they did. I always supported the principle that workers should get a fair rate for the job. By the same token, when my former union boss Mark Serwotka earned in excess of £80k per annum (in reality around £126k when pension contributions were taken into account) I had no issue with that because a) his salary was negotiated with his union and b) it was the rate for the job and broadly comparable with the senior civil servants he was negotiating with. To take less than the rate for the job would make him a scab in my book.
Calling for fair pay cuts both ways and I don’t see why MPs should be treated any different. I was appalled when, for many years, MPs were the arbiters of their own pay and expenses and very much welcomed the change to independent assessment but now that an independent body has recommended a 10% pay rise, why should they then refuse it?
Kendall hits the nail on the head when she says that “public sector workers are having to accept a pay freeze” so she can’t have a pay rise either. No, Liz: public sector workers are not accepting a pay freeze. The government and, it appears, the opposition seek to impose a further pay freeze and that’s their and your justification for not accepting your pay rise. Let’s not play games. Cameron’s announcement about the cabinet having a five year pay freeze was merely symbolic too. It’s to make us all feel we are all in it together. cynical politicking again if you ask me.
There is clearly an argument that our MPs should be better paid. Yes, by my standards they are millionaires (and most of the cabinet are multimillionaires), but if an independent organisation has said they should get a pay rise, shouldn’t they get one? But this argument is about a race to the bottom, not the top, and both main parties are racing to the bottom as quickly as they can.
