UK govt cuts wages of Irish legislators

Salaries of Northern Ireland lawmakers cut 20 months after the devolved assembly in Belfast was suspended in a power- sharing dispute. Standard salary of £ 49 will be down to £ 35,888

London, Sept. 6: The British government said on Thursday that it was cutting the salaries of Northern Ireland lawmakers, 20 months after the devolved assembly in Belfast was suspended in a power- sharing dispute.

Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley told the House of Commons in London that Stormont Assembly Members' pay would be reduced by 27.5 percent, as previously recommended by an independent review. It will take the standard salary of £ 49,500 ( 55,000 euros, $ 64,000) down to £ 35,888.

“The reduction will take effect in two stages, commencing in November,” Ms Bradley told the House of Commons.

She added that staff would keep their salaries at the same rate, saying there is no reason they should suffer “because of the politicians' failure to form an executive”.

Ms Bradley said that she hoped talks would step up in the coming weeks on restoring the devolved government in Belfast, which has been suspended since January 2017. But she said that she would introduce new legislation to allow civil servants to make decisions in Northern Ireland.

The Irish republican Sinn Fein party pulled out of the power- sharing arrangement with the pro- British Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP), citing a breakdown in trust.

The two sides are locked in a row over identity issues, particularly the role of the Irish language, which talks convened by the British and Irish governments have failed to resolve.

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