Boris Johnson says MPs should NOT get a £3,300 pay rise during Covid crisis

BORIS Johnson has said that MPs should NOT get a £3,300 pay rise during the coronavirus crisis, Downing Street has said.

Members of Parliament are currently paid £81,932 – but the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which sets MPs’ salaries, said they should get a pay rise.

The body reportedly recommended that the MPs should get a 4.1 per cent increase on their salary – worth £3,300.

But Boris Johnson has voiced his disapproval.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that Mr Johnson had already frozen ministerial pay, and that he did not believe MPs should get a rise.

The spokesman said: “MPs’ salaries are obviously decided by an independent body but given the circumstances, the PM doesn’t believe MPs should be receiving a pay rise.”

This comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to turn down a pay rise 10 TIMES in an interview this morning.

After a relentless grilling by Piers Morgan, Mr Hancock didn’t concede and say that he wouldn’t take a pay rise if it was offered to his already whopping £146,973 salary.

FREEZE THEIR PAY

Mr Morgan asked: “Are you prepared to lead right now, on Good Morning Britain, and say ‘I won’t take a penny’?”

A grinning Mr Hancock replied: “I will answer this question when firstly the pay policy has been set out by the Chancellor.”

Meanwhile, five million public sector workers could have their wages frozen to help pay for the Covid pandemic- including cops, teachers, and civil servants.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce the squeeze on public sector wages as the financial toll of tackling the virus takes hold.

It’s understood the Chancellor thinks it is “unfair” they should get inflation busting pay rises while private sector workers face stagnant wage growth and redundancies.

But frontline NHS workers battling the deadly bug won’t be included in the freeze – which could save the Treasury £23billion by 2023.

Unions have blasted the plans to freeze public sector pay – which has heaped pressure on MPs to reject their own £3,300 pay rise.

The exact pay rise of MPs is set to be confirmed in December, alongside that of Government ministers – who get paid significantly more than regular MPs.

As well as their salary, MPs can claim allowances to cover the costs of running their office and employing staff.