Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson has backed calls for an immediate pay freeze for MPs.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which has set MPs’ salaries since it was established in the wake of the expenses scandal, has been consulting on a proposed pay rise of more than £3,000 for MPs in April.
Jane has joined 51 other Conservative MPs, mostly from the 2019 intake, in writing to the Interim Chair of IPSA calling for the pay rise to be scrapped due to the economic hardship the country is facing during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the letter, the MPs say: “To support people’s jobs and livelihoods, the Government has introduced unprecedented measures, totalling £200 billion. But at such a time, where the Government may be asking for restraint elsewhere, we believe it is neither appropriate nor justifiable to be awarding MPs pay rises.
“Therefore, as the independent body responsible for setting MPs’ pay, we are calling on you to scrap the 3% pay rise we are set to receive this year and freeze MPs’ pay.”
Jane said: “The coronavirus pandemic has caused a lot of economic hardship, with unemployment rising and many people uncertain about their own jobs and livelihoods. Given this, I do not think it is right to be awarding MPs a pay rise and that is why I have joined 51 other Conservative colleagues in calling for the rise to be scrapped.
“MPs’ pay is rightly set by an independent organisation, as it would be wrong for MPs to vote on their own salaries, but nevertheless I wanted to make my views heard in the consultation and I hope IPSA now do the right thing and scrap the proposed pay rise.”
Earlier this week, No 10 said that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also opposed to the proposed pay rise.
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