UK pay rises – nurses: 1%, MPs: 11%, bankers: 35%

Last Updated: March 13, 2014By

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48 Comments

  1. Angie Harding March 13, 2014 at 12:38 pm - Reply

    the 35% for banker is how they are get around the EU cap on bonuses.

  2. thelovelywibblywobblyoldlady March 13, 2014 at 1:13 pm - Reply

    Oh whoopie! an extra £2.39 (after tax and NI) a week for me. I’ll try not to let it change my life

  3. […] UK pay rises – nurses: 1%, MPs: 11%, bankers: 35%. […]

  4. Mike Sivier March 13, 2014 at 1:34 pm - Reply

    Dale Archer on Twitter passed the following comment, which I repeat with one letter removed. Can you guess what that letter is?
    He wrote: “Obviously the party for hardwa*king people.”

    • Luke March 14, 2014 at 6:57 pm - Reply

      Hardwalking?

  5. HomerJS March 13, 2014 at 1:55 pm - Reply

    MPs 11%
    Public sector 1%

    Obviously MPs do not see themselves as ‘serving the public ‘ . . .

  6. […] Originally posted on Pride's Purge: (not satire – it’s the UK today!) The government has just announced an average increase of…  […]

  7. Thomas M March 13, 2014 at 5:03 pm - Reply

    You’d think they’d increase the pay of the police that guard them from the masses.

  8. jez March 13, 2014 at 7:34 pm - Reply

    When did MPs get an 11% pay rise? I think it was recommended by an independent pay review body but has been (or is likely to be) voted down, so they have not had a pay rise. I’m in broad agreement and I’d be happy to share, but I need to be confident the figures are 100% correct. References to the sources of the data would be helpful.

    • Mike Sivier March 13, 2014 at 9:14 pm - Reply

      No, I think it’s right and they are getting it, albeit only after the 2015 election.

    • Colin Rafferty March 13, 2014 at 10:01 pm - Reply

      Why can the same indepent review body who recommended an 11% pay rise for politicians not do an independent review for the rest of the puublic sector workers

      • Tomo March 14, 2014 at 7:16 pm - Reply

        The nhs pay review body recommended a 1% increase & the yearly incremental if applicable. BUT the government has rejected this recommendation! Funny they cannot reject the parliamentary review body recommendations for their 11% pay rise! ! ……in this together eh! Some are obviously more equal than others!

  9. adl545 March 13, 2014 at 7:35 pm - Reply

    There is a whole section of the population left out if this table. It’s the private sector workers who aren’t getting anything not even 1%, or are even having their wages cut

  10. soo March 13, 2014 at 9:31 pm - Reply

    Most nurses wont be getting anything either when you read the small print. And actually for all those ‘ getting a 1% pay
    rise, this is actually a pay cut after a few years of pay freeze, and way below rate of inflation, fuel and food price rises etc etc. You just can not deny the difference and where priorities lie.

  11. Colin Rafferty March 13, 2014 at 9:57 pm - Reply

    Our poiticians and bankers are without shame…as a serving Prison Officer who is now expected to work till i’m 68, take a moment and think about it….68 working with the uk’s most violent and disturbed individuals…we have had a 1% pay rise in the last five years…nurses our armed forces and police….have been dealt a raw deal, but the government are able to do this because it’s illegal for them to take industrial action….

    • Mike Sivier March 13, 2014 at 9:59 pm - Reply

      Hear, hear.

    • Tomo March 14, 2014 at 7:11 pm - Reply

      Well said!

      • Kris March 15, 2014 at 8:38 am - Reply

        Im ex forces… fresh out in the last 10months and I can tell you I never had a payrise in the last few years of service but yet the budget cuts meant I was expected to do more work and be away from my family more. I signed the dotted line and knew what I was letting myself in for but it got to the point where they were just taking the p*ss, id love to slap each and every politician who backs these stupid payrises and challenge them to live a week in normal working class shoes and see how long they last.

  12. Sydnee Williams March 13, 2014 at 11:30 pm - Reply

    What a disgrace. If Bankers, FTSc 100 Directors and Mp’s actually spent a week shadowing us in our job, maybe they might realise what we actually do and ensure our pay reflects that! Obviously I only speak from a Nurses prospective and I am sure other public sectors are angry too.

    From a cross Intensive Care Nurse
    Sydnee Williams

  13. 203 March 14, 2014 at 9:51 am - Reply

    Any pay rise for MP’s should be directly linked to the public sector average over the previous year.

  14. kjmbailey March 14, 2014 at 5:15 pm - Reply

    It’s just depressing really! No wonder emigrating is becoming increasingly tempting for those in the public services. And shame on mps for giving themselves such a hike!

  15. John127 March 14, 2014 at 7:23 pm - Reply

    Pretty appalling really regarding MPs; the contempt shown for the people who finance their very existence. I fail to understand how 11% is justifiable in such a climate of ‘austerity’. If they were to have any integrity at all , they should have accepted a rise at the rate of inflation- or a pay freeze. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has gone the last five years without a pay rise- equating to a reduction in real terms of between 7-10%. It would be nice to see the same ‘ realignment’ of their salaries- after all , they are nought more than public servants themselves. I guess it is as Orwell wrote it – some people are more equal than others.

  16. nastynev March 15, 2014 at 12:24 am - Reply

    Typical that those who say we have to tighten our belts are fattening themselves up!

  17. tazdevil151174 March 15, 2014 at 3:02 am - Reply

    ARMED FORCES 1% YET BANKERS AND POLITICIANS GET MORE SINCE WHEN HAS THERE JOB BEEN AS RISKY AS A SOLDIERS HOW MANY OF THERE LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE LAST 10 YEARS !!!! NONE I DIDN’T THINK SO WHAT A JOKE DON’T KNOW HOW THEY SLEEP AT NIGHT !!!!!!

  18. John March 15, 2014 at 3:38 am - Reply

    Police got an pension contribution increase of 1%. Perhaps they got them confused. So police now pay 14% into a pension.

  19. idothisontheside March 15, 2014 at 8:46 am - Reply

    Probably worth pointing out that the increase in MPs’ salaries is decided by IPSA and not MPs (which can impose the increase without the consent of MPs), won’t take effect until after the next general election, and that salaries will then be linked to average earnings. The notion that MPs have awarded themselves this increase is nothing more than misinformation.

    • S Nesbitt March 15, 2014 at 9:12 am - Reply

      And look at who is on IPSA – they are hardly representative of your average working person. I would like to see my MP refusing the recommendation, but he won’t.

      • idothisontheside March 15, 2014 at 9:38 am - Reply

        He won’t have a choice without a vote in Parliament, which he is of course welcome to propose. He could choose to donate the additional sum to charity, but the changes in the entire package might mean that he actually loses out as a result, as IPSA has claimed that this is a rebalancing of the remuneration of MPs rather than an outright increase.

        Out of interest, who would you have making the decisions, and why should IPSA be representative of the average working person?

  20. Brian Hogan March 15, 2014 at 4:18 pm - Reply

    What a biased load of tosh. I work for a financial services company where employees including myself will get an average 2% pay rise. Most private sector jobs would be lucky to get 1%. Yes any rise less than that is clearly unfair and not in-line with increased cost of living and I do feel for the majority of public sector workers who clearly work hard and for long hours. But to compare to FTSE 100 directors and top bankers is a ridiculous comparison to make and clearly jumping on the proverbial bandwagon. They ARE the minority after all.

    • Mike Sivier March 15, 2014 at 4:30 pm - Reply

      Why is it a ridiculous comparison? Why should FTSE 100 directors and bankers receive massively above-inflation salary increases? What have they done – especially the bankers – to deserve it?

      • Brian Hogan March 15, 2014 at 5:08 pm - Reply

        Let’s be clear the comparison was particularly one sided. I would estimate you have quoted pay increases for less than 1-2% of the private sector workforce. I don’t agree with the increases certain professions get but it is not a question of fairness but simple economics. In the main (bar the obvious) they make an incredible amount of money for their shareholders and in turn are rewarded for the performance of that business. Our whole economy is based upon the success of our financial services sector and in turn these businesses are fiercely competitive. They need to retain and attract the best talent. The fact is public sector pay rises are insufficient but comparing them to the top 2% of the private sector is like comparing chalk and cheese.

        • Mike Sivier March 15, 2014 at 5:37 pm - Reply

          I didn’t quote anything – it was a reblog from Pride’s Purge. That being said, I still agree with its arguments.

          The comparison is valid because it shows how skewed values have become, due to the profit motive. People who do the most valuable work, like nurses or the police, receive the worst pay settlement – so by your standard the best of them should leave those services and seek other forms of employment. Meanwhile, the people who caused the financial crisis that was still only a few years ago are receiving huge, unjustified rewards, ensuring that they remain in place, possibly to cause the damage all over again.

      • Brian Hogan March 15, 2014 at 6:07 pm - Reply

        Hmm… I think I might have hit a nerve. My standards? I assure you I’m trying to add balance to a very one-sided thread. I’m not suggesting that police officers or nurses leave their profession at all. I’m sure most joined up in the knowledge that they were not in it for the money in the first place. Stick to the relevant and salient points. ‘Public sector increases less than inflation’ not many could argue that’s not acceptable. Don’t stoop to the tabloid level of shock and awe ‘facts’. It was a minority of bankers who caused the financial crisis a tad naive to stick the boot into all bankers although it is flavour of the month and has been for a long period of time

        • Mike Sivier March 15, 2014 at 6:56 pm - Reply

          The money IS a relevant point; if people in these professions aren’t earning a good living where they are, they’ll have to go somewhere else. It’s the same argument as for the bankers. Why should they get special treatment after the mess they made of the economy?

          Also, I find it hard to give credence to your argument when you say we should not be measuring a 35 per cent pay rise given to a minority against the one per cent or less offered to a wider group, and then say it was a minority of bankers who caused the financial crisis. You’re right – it is only a minority of bankers who are receiving the 35 per cent pay rise; this blog has already received communication from one banker, further down the pay ladder, who won’t be getting anything like as much. We may therefore conclude that the bankers getting the big rise are those in big decision-making positions – EXACTLY the people who caused the crash. That’s not tabloid ‘shock and awe’ – that’s logic.

      • Brian Hogan March 15, 2014 at 7:21 pm - Reply

        You make it sound as if everyone is entitled to a pay rise! This is simply not the case. It’s not special treatment it is how the industry decides to look after it’s top staff. It’s not the bankers that decide public staff pay increases it’s the government so perhaps you should concentrate on the case in point. Logic? More like sensationalised drivel based upon misleading and inaccurate information. Simply not representative.

        • Mike Sivier March 16, 2014 at 12:25 am - Reply

          Your argument makes no sense at all. Firstly, although I absolutely did not make it seem as though everybody is entitled to a pay rise, I certainly believe that hard-working people deserve an increase that is at least in line with inflation. Otherwise they are receiving a de facto pay cut every year. This much is obvious to anybody. Therefore I disagree with your claim that “this is not the case”. Also, if a minority of people who are already receiving far more in payment for their meagre services than the police or nurses get in return for their great contribution, and then get a many-times-above-inflation increase on top of that, then there is certainly money available. Perhaps the tax system needs to be adjusted in order to make sure that these public sector workers – who protect high-paid bankers from illness and crime – get their fair share? That’s a government decision. Also, successive governments have subsidised the banks using public money. Those people owe us a huge debt and are doing their best to ignore it. When will we get our money back?

  21. Missyb March 15, 2014 at 8:04 pm - Reply

    What have FTSE100 directors got to do with this? They are not publicly funded. MP’s and the Government bailed bankers should have pay freezes but independent publicly TRADED (not owned) company make their own profits, contribute in taxes and are not a drain on the economy ….they can have 100% rises and bonus’s for all I care as long as they don’t cost the average joe a penny…which they don’t.

    I’d like to see sources of this data really, or is it just media?

    I personally have had the equivalent of a pay cut every year for the last 10
    Years (I.e. No pay rose at all) and am lucky if a 45 hour week yields me enough spare money to get a takeaway or a cinema visit!!!!

    • Mike Sivier March 16, 2014 at 12:27 am - Reply

      How much does your employer take home in pay, in comparison to you?

  22. jack March 15, 2014 at 8:24 pm - Reply

    i feel for all the public sector workers with little or no payrise – its a disgrace! However my ‘banker’ hubby studies in his free time, works long hrs (overtime is NOT paid) and has been shafted for his previously promised final salary pension. i have yet to hear of public sector workers losing theirs! Dont believe all u read!

    • Mike Sivier March 16, 2014 at 12:31 am - Reply

      Is your banker husband getting a 35 per cent pay rise this year? If not, he’s probably one of the many to whom this doesn’t apply.
      It’s clear that the reference to bankers should not be connected to everyone who works at a bank – just those at the top – but it is also clear that some readers have not recognised this. That may be a fault in the way it was written (not my article so don’t blame me!) but it seems strange that people are taking against this article when they see similar references to bankers in the mainstream media and raise no objection.

    • miissyp March 16, 2014 at 9:34 pm - Reply

      As a nurse you have to prove your continued learning to retain your registration so plenty of out of hours work for us. We no longer get a final salary pension, have to contribute more and I won’t get mine till im 70!! So it’s not just your banker husband!!

  23. David Payne March 16, 2014 at 11:19 am - Reply

    Legal Aid Barristers since 1997 is about -35% to -40%. No rises, just arbitrary cuts with little consultation.

  24. Jon Pritchard March 16, 2014 at 2:27 pm - Reply

    I am ex-forces and have just completed my time in the Police. I can honestly say I have never felt such a sense of relief to be out. I wouldn’t do it again and came to the conclusion some years ago that this country is not worth the effort or risks. I cannot understand why anyone would want to join either the armed forces or the Police today. My advice to anyone now is emigrate. Something I passed up on 20 years ago and have always regretted it.

    • Keegan Hall-Browne March 16, 2014 at 7:16 pm - Reply

      I’m a UK teacher and NUT activist and am both personally aware and acutely outraged by the truth of this 1% pay rise after a nearly 4 year pay freeze. However I have friends in the other industries less favorably mentioned and am not at all aware of the truth behind these generalised statements. Making sensationalistic adverts like this without credible sources does nobody any favours. Please credit the statistics to enable us to accurately use this as support for our views, industrial strikes and debates with friends.

  25. nick April 17, 2014 at 10:43 pm - Reply

    Security wages for doorstaff havent risen in 7 years…..

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