“NOW is not the time for MPs to be receiving a pay rise” – that was the verdict of Redditch MP Rachel Maclean this afternoon.
Mrs Maclean also called for the government to block the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), responsible for setting MPs’ pay and pensions, from giving MPs a boost in December.
IPSA was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, before Mrs Maclean was an MP.
“Rightly, IPSA acts independently of government and has a statutory duty to review MPs’ pay in the first year of each parliament,” she said.
“I vehemently believe now is not the right time for MPs to be receiving a pay rise.
“IPSA should be blocked from attempting to give MPs this increase in pay.
“It would be insensitive for MPs to receive a pay rise during the pandemic which has hit our economy hard, when businesses have closed, when jobs have been lost and when the Chancellor is about to make tough decisions on government spending.
“The government should consider all options to block IPSA from awarding this pay rise.”
