Tory says pay rise will make it “tricky’ to feed his kids

Tory Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, who earns £115,824, says the cost of living increase of £2k will make it “quite tricky” to feed his kids.

The comment came when he acknowledged on Sky News that it would be “very tough” to live on his above average package.

He said: “We completely acknowledge that a combination of factors has meant that prices are rising significantly, energy prices in particular, driven by a variety of factors, post-pandemic, the war in Ukraine, other kinds of global factors outside of our immediate control – and it is tough.

“For those of us who have a smart meter, as we do here in my house, we can see how much it is costing us on an hourly basis, and it is not happy reading.”

MPs pay rise

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which is responsible for MPs pay said on Friday April 1^st that their salaries will rise by 2,7 percent. The increase is the first in two years and comes at a time when inflation is running around six percent.

Richard Lloyd, PSA’s Chairperson, said it was “right” that MPs are “paid fairly”, particularly with their work “dramatically” increasing in the past 12 months.

Malthouse, who as a minister of state earns an extra £31,680, bringing his total pay to £115,824, said his household is facing a “tricky” time.

Speaking to LBC with a roaring fire in the background, the minister told LBC: “Obviously the day-to-day is quite tricky. As you know, I’ve got children. They need to be fed and that cost is rising.

“My fuel prices are rising quite significantly, and I have to say that in my constituency I’m on oil central heating still, sadly.”

The Conservative MP for North West Hampshire continued: “Oil, I’m afraid to tell you, doesn’t come under the energy price cap, and lots of people in rural areas are suffering from the oil price rise.

“So we are feeling it very significantly. I have to confess to you, we did convert last year to electric vehicles, so we are feeling the electric price but not through the petrol. So it is a challenge for everybody.”

He also claimed to have tried to log on to his energy provider’s app to give his latest reading but also found it wasn’t working. Most sites are known to have collapsed after a leading expert suggested they do so before the next price increase.

Pay rises and the man in the street

Speaking to Sky News Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “People do not want a revolution, but they want to be able to afford food and their energy bills.”

He continued saying that the government does not get: “The scale of the problem for millions and millions of people.

“People don’t want a revolution. They do want to know ‘how am I going to pay my energy bill which has just gone up today by hundreds of pounds.

“For people to make a choice between heating and eating – in 21st century!”

He branded the government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis as “pathetic” and said its decision to hike national insurance rates is “the wrong tax at the wrong time”.

Health care workers and other essential staff who toiled through the pandemic will no doubt be incensed to hear that another Tory says that his pay rise will make it “tricky’ to feed his kids.

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