Heaton-Harris criticised for not going far enough on MLA pay cut

British Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has been criticised for not going far enough regarding his decision to cut the pay of MLAs, while the Assembly is not sitting.

Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Emmet Doyle (Aontú) described the decision as "simply not good enough".

Cllr Doyle added: “In the last few weeks it’s been clear that the British Secretary of State has been taking his advice purely from political parties who of course don’t want an election and won’t suffer from the reduction of a salary they’ve been receiving for months for half a job.

"We are being told that there’s ‘nothing to see here’ now that a paltry cut will be made to MLA pay. They will still be paid more than many nurses after this cut.

"This cut is simply not good enough- we want to see MLAs on minimum wage until they go back to undertaking the roles they were elected for, nothing else will do.

I’m now calling on Foyle MLAs to come out and publicly inform constituents why they feel they are worth more than many other workers for doing half a job.”