Trade unions and the Labour Party campaigned for, and won, paid holidays and breaks, which means that the £15 per hour national minimum wage the Labour Party membership voted for at their conference equates to £31,200.* Yet we’ve gone through Momentum’s job advertisements and found that most of the jobs at the campaign pay well below that figure…
How can Momentum credibly campaign for businesses to pay a minimum wage that they don’t pay their own staff – “be the change you want to see” is a basic test of credibility. We’ve asked Momentum’s press office to explain themselves. GB News also invited Momentum on this morning to make their case. Embarrassed silence.
They’re not the only left-wing organisation guilty of hypocrisy, as our senior reporter Christian Calgie explained this morning on GB News. The £15-an-hour mandate is ridiculously above the market rate for most jobs, it is above the average wage for experienced staff in many roles. That is proven by the fact that those organisations campaigning for it, don’t even pay it themselves.
*£15 x 40 x 52 = £31,200
Following the recent decision to freeze MPs pay there was some little noticed polling this week, which shows that the public think MPs are overpaid and by a massive margin think they should actually see their pay cut. Nearly two-thirds (61%) want to see their pay cut with only 39% thinking MPs should be paid the same as now or more according to a survey by Opinium for Times Radio . Guido thinks this adds to the case for MPs getting performance related pay…
The same polling shows that when asked how much they think MPs should be paid, most voters wanted MPs’ pay to be halved:
Guido thinks that when IPSA comes back in the new year to consider MPs pay, performance benchmarking has to be on the agenda. The public certainly agrees…
Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning has been in touch with Guido to say he has tabled an Early Day Motion on today’s order paper, calling on the Government to freeze MPs’ pay if public sector pay as a whole is frozen. The text of the EDM states:
“That this House calls on the Government not to bring in a public sector pay freeze; notes that the public sector, including our armed forces, has done the country proud during the covid-19 pandemic crisis and all too often has gone beyond the call of duty and put their lives at risk; and further notes that if such a pay freeze is contemplated hon. Members should be included in such a freeze as they are public sector employees.“
Yesterday the Prime Minister’s official spokesman announced that Boris agrees with Guido’s campaign to freeze the pay of MPs. He joins a host of MPs who have contacted Guido to say they would refuse a pay rise in solidarity with other public sector workers if a freeze is brought in.
Meanwhile IPSA are now saying that “no decision has been made” on MP pay, despite last month proposing in a report to link MP pay to public sector wage growth using October’s three-month average rise – amounting to an inflation busting 4.1% hike. Yet the problem is the only way to guarantee MP pay restraint is with new legislation. Guido will keep up the pressure until it’s there in black and white.
See the list of MPs opposing a pay rise below:
Mansfield’s Ben Bradley is the first* MP to publicly pledge that “if the rumours on a public sector pay freeze are true (and I don’t know whether they are) then needless to say that should include MPs too.”
Jacob Young, the MP for Redcar & Cleveland, says that if the Chancellor “says public sector workers are getting a pay freeze – then I want to be clear, that must include MPs.”
Guido will be contacting MPs to see if who will pledge to freeze their pay in solidarity with the public sector. Ideally the government should find time to simply amend the legislation so that IPSA’s pay rise recommendations can in future be rejected by a straightforward vote on the floor of the Commons. MPs can stop this faux wringing of hands as their pockets are filled with inflation busting pay rises…
In the long term Britain should move to a Singaporean style model for MPs pay – salaries are performance-linked, to ensure that political leaders are accountable for their roles and responsibilities. Pay is benchmarked against high calibre earners’ incomes, then discounted 40% for public service. MPs are paid performance related bonuses on top, with the salaries linked to the socio-economic outcomes of Singaporeans. British MPs’ pay could do with linking to the general prosperity of their voters, the people whose interests they are supposed to represent. If the people prosper, MPs’ pay will rise.
Guido is compiling a tally of MPs who are refusing a pay rise. Are you an MP without their snout in the trough? Email Guido from an @parliament.uk account or with a link to a public statement to join the list of non-wronguns…
