Boris Johnson will take a £2,200 pay rise when MPs get a salary hike next month whilst the general public is faced with a cost of living crisis.
It comes as fears mount that UK residents will face an even higher inflation as well as a national insurance hike from April, on top of already higher prices for food and energy.
The prime minister’s spokesman confirmed Johnson will be one of the MPs to receive a 2.7 per cent pay rise next month, insisting there is “no facility for it to be rejected”, according to Mail Online.
‘No facility to reject the pay rise’
Asked today (Monday) if Johnson intends to accept the payrise, the spokesperson said it was “automatic”.
First, the spokesman was told Johnson could donate the wage increase from taxpayers’ money to charity, but he replied: “I am not going to get into the sort of charitable donations the prime minister makes.
“But it is true that he is not going to, in fact he is not able to turn down that pay rise which is independently judged by IPSA.”
When told Johnson could also give back the equivalent sum from his ministerial salary in order to offset the hike, the spokesperson added: “The ministerial element of the prime minister’s salary has been frozen for some time now and will remain so.
“As I say, all ministers, this is a rise that is judged by IPSA and they are independent.
“It is a judgement for them to make and there is no facility for it to be rejected by MPs.”
‘It’s right that MPs are paid fairly’, IPSA said
Johnson currently has a combined salary of over £160,000 per year, with £80,000 for his prime minister role and £81,932 for his MP position.
Earlier this month, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) faced backlash after announcing MPs’ salaries will rise to £84,144, insisting politicians worked harder during the Covid pandemic.
IPSA chair Richard Lloyd said at the time: “This is the first increase in pay for MPs in two years and follows the average of increases across the public sector last year. MPs play a vital role in our democracy and this is reflected in their pay.
“It is right that MPs are paid fairly for the responsibility and the unseen work they do helping their constituents, which dramatically increased last year. For Parliament to reflect society, it is vital that people from all walks of life can be an MP.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “I think that MPs do not need a pay rise and we should all be saying that we don’t need that pay rise and it shouldn’t go ahead.
“The mechanism is independent but I think it’s for me, as leader of the opposition, to say that I do not think we should have that pay rise.”
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