Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP, Neale Hanvey, is celebrating success for his campaign to stop MPs getting a pay rise following the announcement that a planned £3,300 increase has been scrapped.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which sets MPs’ pay, had been expected to recommend a 4.1 percent pay rise, worth £3,300, for MPs for the financial year starting April 2021.
When the plans were announced, Mr Hanvey called on members of the public to take part in a consultation survey to oppose the planned increase. In a social media post seen by nearly 18,000 people, he said that it “might sound odd, but I’m not a priority and I certainly don’t need or want a pay rise”. The local MP, who spent twenty-five years in the NHS as a senior nurse, went on to say that his priority was “to secure fair deals for low-paid key workers whose heroic efforts have carried us through the Covid crisis”.
IPSA confirmed that the pay rise had been cancelled in an email to MPs, stating: “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.”
Commenting, Neale Hanvey MP said:
“Thanks to the support of my constituents who took part in the consultation, we were able to put a stop to the ludicrous plans to increase MPs’ salaries.
“The increase was completely unthinkable in a year when many folk in my constituency are facing pay freezes, have been put on furlough, or are seeing their livelihoods hit by the ongoing public-health restrictions.
“There was an incredible local response to my campaign, and it was good to see MPs from across all parties run similar campaigns in their local areas. This isn’t a party-political issue, it is a moral one.
“Our priority must be to build back better. We must improve the working conditions and pay for key workers that have seen us through this public health crisis.”