RACHEL Maclean has called on the government to consider blocking a pay rise for MPs, stressing that it is 'not the right time'. 

An Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) consultation on MPs’ pay closed earlier this month and the public body is expected to make a decision in December.

The Redditch MP said:“MPs’ pay is always a sensitive subject, and once again this has hit the headlines.

“IPSA was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, long before I became an MP, and is responsible for setting MP’s pay and pensions.

"MPs don’t vote on their own pay. Rightly, IPSA acts independently of Parliament and of Government and they have a statutory duty to review MPs’ pay in the first year of each parliament.

“I vehemently believe now is not the right time for MPs to be receiving a pay rise.

"IPSA should be blocked from attempting to give MPs this increase in pay.

"It would be insensitive for MPs to receive a pay rise during a pandemic which has hit our economy hard, when businesses have closed, when jobs have been lost and when the Chancellor is about to make tough decisions on Government spending.

“The Government should consider all options to block IPSA from awarding this pay rise. I will continue my conversations with colleagues on this issue.”