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Stephen Gilbert MPCornwall's voice in the Commons |
CORNISH LIB DEM MPS UNITE AGAINST REGIONAL PAY
May 18, 2012 1:13 PM
Cornwall's Liberal Democrat MPs Andrew George, Stephen Gilbert and Dan Rogerson have made clear their opposition to varying public sector pay in different parts of the country.
Mr George, Mr Gilbert and Mr Rogerson were among 22 Lib Dem MPs who wrote to the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday to oppose regional public sector pay and to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister's assurance this week that the Government would not enact regional pay variations for the public sector.
Commenting, North Cornwall's MP Dan Rogerson, said:
"Clearly the Government is doing its job by keeping public sector pay under review. However, I believe the arguments in favour of any form of regional pay to be flawed in that they take further money out of economically hard-pressed regions of the UK and inevitably help to overheat the economy around London and the South East.
"The Government is right to be working to stimulate jobs in the private sector - but it isn't necessary to change public sector pay in order for these new opportunities to come forward."
The MP for St Austell and Newquay, Stephen Gilbert, added:
"Local pay threatens to institutionalise the structural problems in the Cornish economy where we have lower than national average wages but have higher than national average costs on housing, water and fuel. We need to work to close this gap and we will not do so by a rush to the bottom in public sector pay.