MPs have been told their pay will be frozen next year due to the ‘unprecedented impact’ of the pandemic.
Redditch MP Rachel Maclean said that she welcomes the news after publicly saying she was against a pay rise a few weeks ago.
She said: “It would be insensitive for MPs to receive a pay rise during a pandemic which has hit our economy hard, when businesses have closed, when jobs have been lost and when tough decisions have been made on public sector pay.
“I did all I could to put pressure on IPSA to stop them from giving MPs this pay rise, even calling on the government to consider all options to block the proposed increase.
“I’m therefore delighted that IPSA have made the right decision not to increase MPs pay next year.
“It should never have been considered in the first place, but the right outcome has been reached.”
In a letter sent to MPs the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which sets MPs pay, said: “The unprecedented impact of the Covid pandemic has had an unexpected, but different, effect on public and private sector earnings.
“It is clear that applying the forthcoming official statistic for public sector earnings growth would result in a salary increase for MPs that would be inconsistent with the wider economic data and would not reflect the reality that many constituents are facing this year.”
