Wednesday 15 July 2009

John Cashcow and his secret salary


Speaker John Bercow is refusing to reveal his salary despite urging greater transparency in his campaign for the post.

His pay has been shrouded in secrecy ever since he took over from Michael Martin, who was ousted over his failure to deal with the expenses scandal, last month.

Mr Martin had agreed to keep his pay in line with Cabinet ministers at £141,868 this year in recognition of the squeeze in pay across the country and the wider effects of the recession.

But in April all backbench MPs, including Mr Bercow, were given a 2.33 per cent increase on their salaries.

The Commons website detailing salaries now lists Mr Bercow's pay entitlement as £144,520.
That suggests that he has kept his MPs' pay increase and now earns 1.9 per cent more than his predecessor.

A spokeswoman for Mr Bercow said there were "protocol difficulties" in revealing the Speaker's salary.

After his election, the Speaker was quick to announce that he would not claim a second-home allowance in future, having picked up the £23,083 maximum last year.

While campaigning for the post, he said that while MPs wanted reform and transparency, financial support should not be pared back so far as to make a parliamentary career unaffordable to anyone without a private income.

So tell us how much you earn Cashcow.

Angus

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