CAM: IT'S SELFISH TO GIVE OUR HEROES PAY RISES
...says the millionaire ex-Premier who rakes in £120,000 an hour for speeches
DAVID Cameron says anyone calling for his 1% cap on public pay to be scrapped is “selfish”.
The ex-PM ushered in austerity and now earns £120,000 an hour.
But he insists a decent rise for nurses, police and teachers “isn’t being generous, it’s being selfish”.
FAILED Prime Minister David Cameron provoked outrage from anti-austerity campaigners and Labour MPs last night after attacking them for being selfish.
Defending his cap on pay for nurses, teachers and police, the millionaire Tory told South Korean business chiefs: “The opponents of so-called austerity couch arguments in a way that makes them sound generous and compassionate.
“They seek to paint the supporters of sound finances as selfish, or uncaring.
“The exact reverse is true. Giving up on sound finances isn’t being generous, it’s being selfish: spending money today that you may need tomorrow.”
Mr Cameron – who met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul yesterday – was speaking on one of many stops on his lucrative public speaking circuit, believed to pay up to £120,000 an hour.
The former Conservative Party leader, who oversaw seven years of austerity as Prime Minister, froze public sector pay for two years after taking power in 2010.
Before he was forced to quit after losing the EU referendum vote, he capped annual rises at a below-inflation 1% every year for the following five years.
He is on earnings of £1.5 million, but nurses have suffered a real-terms pay cut of 9.5% in seven years, leaving many relying on payday loans and foodbanks.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the Mirror: “Only David Cameron would say hard-working people seeing their living standards fall back and their pay suppressed is good for them. It just further shows how out of touch he was then, and still remains.”
Ilford North MP Wes Streeting said: “What on earth does David Cameron know about the pressures facing families who’ve seen their bills going up, but their wages kept down? His comments are a kick in the teeth to people who work a lot harder than David Cameron ever did before he flounced off to the afterdinner speaker circuit, leaving the country in a mess.” Labour MP Anna Turley raged: “Selfish? Selfish to decently pay those who tend our sick, teach our children, risk their lives, keep us safe and society functioning? “The millionaire architect of austerity who tried to balance the books on the backs of the poorest would know all about selfish.” Trade unions also exploded in fury. Unite assis-
What does he know about pressures of bills going up, but wages kept down? WES STREETING LABOUR MP FOR ILFORD NORTH ON CAMERON
tant chief Gail Cartmail said: “David Cameron and his austerity addiction has done enough damage. It is high time Britain had a pay rise.”
And UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “It’s politicians who insist on holding public sector wages back who are the selfish ones.”
The Tory Cabinet is bitterly divided over whether to lift the pay cap after Jeremy Corbyn’s shock election success on an anti-austerity ticket.
Theresa May tried to U-turn on the policy last week but was forced to back down after her Chancellor Philip Hammond said austerity must stay. In a speech on Monday night he said he accepted people are “weary” of austerity but warned lifting the cap may mean higher taxes. In the Commons yesterday Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt dodged questions on whether the pay cap will be lifted for nurses.
He is due to give his view to independent pay advisers later this summer but was urged by Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth to publish his plans now.
“The Secretary of State can find £1billion for Northern Ireland, but nothing for nurses in England,” Mr Ashworth blasted. “Would it not be fairer not to go ahead with further cuts to corporation tax, and to put that money towards giving our doctors and nurses a fair pay rise?”
Civil servants are also demanding an end to the cap and today the FDA union will write to key Ministers.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman said he is targeting Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
All have voiced support for ending the cap following the general election.
Mr Penman said: “FDA members will welcome the warm words from a number of Cabinet ministers over lifting the public sector pay cap. But warm words won’t pay the bills.”
As the row continued across Whitehall, the Fire Brigades Union claimed the 1% cap is already “dead in the water” after its members were offered a 2% hike this year and 3% next.
Number 10 insisted their pay bargaining is different to other parts of the public sector and the Government has not yet become involved.
But Mr Cameron has had no trouble negotiating a rise since he resigned as an MP last summer. In addition to his earnings on the speaking circuit, his Downing Street memoir has reportedly raked in an advance of £800,000.
So his private earnings since leaving Number 10 are estimated to be well over £1.5million – 70 times the £21,000 starting salary of a nurse in modern day Britain.
His office declined to comment on his private income.
That’ll do nicely: Cam’s ‘earned’ about £1.5m since leaving No10. His memoirs should net him £800k while he gets about £120k a speech