Southwark’s newest MPs, Neil Coyle in the north and Helen Hayes in the south, have said that they will not be keeping the rise in wages currently being proposed for MPs if it goes through.
The Labour duo have told the News that if the controversial £7,000 increase to an annual wage of £74,000, proposed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), goes ahead, they will simply portion it out to local charities.
We also asked long-standing Camberwell and Peckham MP Harriet Harman – Mr Coyle and Ms Hayes’ boss – what she would be doing, but have only learnt that she disagrees with the proposal.
Over 386,000 people have signed a petition calling on the PM to overrule the proposed increase. At least, if it does go ahead, some local people stand to gain from what most people find an ill-timed bump in pay, when all we hear from those in power is that we live in times of austerity.