A Treasury minister has admitted MP pay rises are “awkward” after he came under fire from the father of a disabled woman worried about benefit cuts. Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, was criticised on BBC Question Time by an audience member whose 18-year-old daughter is unable to work because of her disability.
The father said: “I’m speaking as someone with a disabled daughter. She’s 18 now. The cuts that you’re all talking about, where is it going to come from? The rich? Or is it going to affect the poor? It’s going to affect the poor. I say that because my daughter, who as I said is 18, heard in the news this week that these cuts are coming. How is that going to affect her? How is that going to affect everybody that suffers from those kinds of disabilities?
“Yet she’s also heard that the MPs are going to get a 2.8% raise on their salaries. How does that justify? You’re taking it from my daughter and you put it in your pocket. That’s how she sees it.”
Darren Jones appearing on BBC Question Time (Image: BBC)
MPs are to receive an inflation-busting 2.8% pay rise this year – taking their wages to almost £94,000.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), set up in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal, said the move would reflect the “vital role” of MPs.
Mr Jones said: “People that need help are going to get it in the system.”
But BBC presenter Fiona Bruce interjected to say he would be getting more money, but the audience member’s daughter would be getting less.
The man in the audience continued: “How is it that you can get a pay rise but it’s going to be taken away from them?”
Mr Jones: “By the sounds of it, your daughter will continue to be supported and that’s what the system is there to do.
“To answer your question on pay rises, across the public sector … we have to come to an agreement around what payrises are for public sector workers. For MPs, that’s not a decision I take as a minister or we take as MPs. It’s taken independently by Parliament with reference to what’s happening in the rest of the economy.”
But Ms Bruce interrupted to ask whether it is “awkward” amid the Government’s sweeping welfare cuts.
Mr Jones responded: “Yes.”
A massive £6.4billion will be cut from the health and disability benefits bill by 2029-30, analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggested.
