Tory Philip Hammond refused to deny saying public sector workers are “overpaid” even when the Shadow Chancellor showed him a pay slip from a cleaner who made £297 a week. Millionaire Hammond still was dumbstruck by McDonnell’s clever ploy.
John McDonnell slammed the Chancellor for the comments, allegedly made during a cabinet meeting last week.
McDonnell told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “I was at Bart’s Hospital yesterday with the cleaners, who are on strike. Why are they on strike? Because they asked for 30p an hour extra and were refused it.
“One of the cleaners gave me a payslip”, he said as he brought the pay slip from inside jacket pocket.
“This woman, full time worker, earns £297 a week. At the moment, median rent in London is nearly £1,500 [a month]. To buy a house in London is half a million pounds. Ask Philip Hammond if he can live on that.”
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