No Wage Rise for MPs, But Dominic Cummings Laughs all the Way to the Bank.

MPs will not now get the £3,000 pay rise they were promised this year, as the parliamentary Standards Committee suggested a rise now would not be appropriate.


Dominic Cummings, special advisor for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, makes a statement at 10 Downing Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 25, 2020. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS
Dominic Cummings, special advisor for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, makes a statement at 10 Downing Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 25, 2020. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS
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LONDON (Labour Buzz) - Pay has been front and centre of everyone’s minds this week. With public sector workers facing a pay freeze, MPs have rather belatedly been told they will follow suit. However, news that Dominic Cummings received a whopping £45,000 pay rise this year keeps the rage pot simmering. 

According to the BBC, the Prime Minister’s former aide saw his pay jump 40% last year to between £140,000 and 144,999. Johnson also ignored civil service advice to reach a settlement with Sonia Khan who was led out of Number 10 by Police after a row with Dominic Cummings. 

No reason was given for Khan’s sacking, who had been an advisor to Chancellor Sajid Javid. Last month, Cummings also found himself ejected from Number 10 after reportedly having insulted the Prime Minister’s fiancé. 

The news undoes any goodwill from the announcement over the weekend the MPs would not get their expected pay rise. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the independent body which sets MP pay, had recommended a £3,000 pay boost for MPs. Now they say that such a rise would be ‘inconsistent’ with the picture of economic doom and gloom around the country.

MPs from across parliament had opposed the wage rise. 

Labour MP Zarah Sultana tweeted: 

“It's been announced that the planned MPs' pay rise has been cancelled. Good. I had repeatedly called for it to be scrapped. We should instead tax the rich and give the working class a pay rise.”

Conservative MP Dehenna Davison was equally delighted. 

“This afternoon, I received an email from IPSA informing me that they are scrapping the proposed £3,000 pay rise for MPs,” she wrote. “I am beyond delighted that my campaign calling on IPSA to reconsider this ridiculous proposal has been heard.”

Around 50 MPs had called on the government to scrap the wage rise. Even Boris Johnson agreed. In November, his spokesperson confirmed that Johnson was against the pay rise and Ministers had already seen their pay frozen. 

Millions of public sector workers have been denied a pay rise this year and wages for the general population have fallen. The sight of aides such as Cummings receiving such lavish rewards does nothing to dispel the notion that it’s one rule for them and one rule for us. 

(Written by Tom Cropper, edited by Klaudia Fior)

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