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Sadiq Khan has cut his own pay by 10% as he called on
Boris Johnson to bail out local authorities facing funding black holes as a result of coronavirus.
The
London mayor warned that authorities across the country faced a shortfall of business rate and council tax income.
Khan is taking an immediate reduction to his £152,734 salary, cutting it by almost £15,300, and has frozen pay for his senior appointments at City Hall.
He said: “Londoners did the right thing to tackle Covid-19 by following the rules, staying at home and helping to save lives.
“But now the government is punishing them with a new era of austerity.
“Unless ministers act, the current number of
police officers will need to be reduced and it will be impossible to tackle youth violence or make the changes to the London
fire Brigade that are desperately needed after the awful Grenfell Tower tragedy.”
By contrast, two months ago, MPs received a pay rise of 3.1%, bringing their annual basic salary to £81,932 from April this year.
The increase from the current wage of £79,468 kicked in from April 1, 2020. The body that sets MPs pay has also proposed an increase in budgets for MPs’ staff, support for their welfare, and for security.
MPs’ pay is linked to average rises in the public sector, as determined by the Office for National Statistics.Related...
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