Boris Johnson given £2k pay rise as he insists there’s ‘no way to turn it down’

Boris Johnson is ‘unable to turn down’ the automatic pay rise issued to all MPs, a Downing Street spokesperson has claimed today.

At the start of the month, it was announced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) that all Members of Parliament will get a £2,200 annual increase, raising their salaries by 2.7% from £81,932 to £84,144.

This will be in addition to expenses received to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.

And along with these MPs, the Prime Minister is also set to receive a pay rise of £2,200, something that his official spokesperson has insisted is ‘impossible’ to turn down. 

Number 10 / Flickr

According to The Telegraph, Johnson’s spokesperson said there was ‘no way’ for him to decline the increase because it will be going through automatically and will be ‘independently judged by Ipsa [the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]’. 

The spokesman declined to comment, however, when asked whether the PM would be donating the pay increase to charity. 

Read More: The everyday essentials we’ll be paying more for as the cost of living continues to rise

Johnson had indicated earlier this year that he opposed giving MPs a pay rise as the cost of living is set to soar.

His spokesperson said in January that he had urged the independent body overseeing MPs’ wages to show ‘restraint’ as they considered whether to increase pay in April.

UK Parliament / Flickr

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously said MPs should not receive a pay rise in April, given the cost-of-living crisis facing the country.

However, his spokesman has also declined to say whether he would donate the extra money to charity, saying: “The pay rise for MPs is decided independently and processed automatically.

“How pay is spent is a private matter.”

Some Labour MPs have already pledged to donate their extra salary, including Zarah Sultana, who has vowed to donate it to charities in her Coventry constituency that are helping Ukrainians.