Cameron announces freeze in ministers’ pay

British government ministers will have their salaries frozen for the next five years, Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed.

The announcement came from an article written by the Prime Minister himself who said regarding paying off the national debt, “we are all in this together”.

Cameron hopes to save approximately £800,000 per annum and a total of £4m in five years’ time. His decision means cabinet ministers who currently receive a salary of £134,565 will not see until 2020. This reportedly includes their wages as MPs too.

The decision to freeze pay for the duration of parliament is part of the PM’s “One Nation” strategy to tackle deficit in an attempt to becoming a country where “all hard-working people can get on”.

He writes: "We can't pretend there's not still a long way to go. We've halved the deficit as a share of the economy - but there's still half of it left to pay off.

"So we will continue to take the difficult decisions necessary to bring spending down and secure our economy. As we go about doing that, I want people to be in no doubt: I said five years ago we were all in this together, and five years on, nothing has changed.

"That's why, for example, I've decided to freeze the pay of the ministers in the government. For me, that's just one step which sends out a clear signal: that as we continue knuckling down as a country, we will all play our part."

The UK’s current 650 MPs who receive £67,060 are expecting 9% pay rise later this year after an independent watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said this should rise to £74,000 once the election has finished.

The 2009 expenses scandal which brought about major changes in parliament meant MPs no longer have control of setting their own pay rates which now rests upon IPSA. MPs do not receive extra pay for committee work either, despite the fact that committee chairs get £14,000 supplement. Cameron took the chance to ensure his new administration would be “about so much more than balancing the books”.

"As we return to office, after five years of a long-term economic plan and sacrifices by the British people, we're on the brink of something different - something special," he writes.

"We can become a country where all hard-working people can get on; not a two-speed society where some can afford childcare and homes of their own and others cannot.

"We can become a country where all children get the education they deserve and no-one settles for a life on benefits; so no-one's background is a barrier to their success.

"In other words, we can become One Nation."

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