Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, took part in his very first vote in Parliament yesterday (Wednesday).
After praising the emergency services in the run-up to the election and following the Grenfell Tower fire, confusingly, he chose to vote in opposition of the call to end funding cuts to the police and the fire service.
End the pay cap
An amendment to the Queen’s Speech, put forward by the Labour Party, called for an “end the public sector pay cap and give the emergency and public services a fair pay rise”.
However, Cllr Seely voted with the entire Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to vote against the motion.
A fair pay rise for firefighters, police, ambulance staff, nurses and teachers was thwarted by just 14 votes.
Seely: “Public sector pay needs to be looked at properly”
This morning Bob told OnTheWight,
“Public sector workers do a really important job, and the issue of public sector pay needs to be looked at properly. But rather than tacking it onto the end of the Queen’s Speech at the last minute, it needs to be reviewed by the Treasury ahead of the Budget this autumn.
“Of course we need to support public sector workers, but we need to find ways of doing so that ensures the economy keeps on growing. Without that growth we won’t have the money that our nation needs to pay for these public services.
“I have no doubt that there will be further dialogue over the coming weeks and months – and I would be pleased to hear from any Island constituents – including local trade unions – who wish to make representations to me on this subject.”
The motion
The amendment read:
I beg to move an amendment, at the end of the Question to add:
“but respectfully regret that the Gracious Speech fails to end cuts to the police and the fire service; commend the response of the emergency services to the recent terrorist attacks and to the Grenfell Tower fire; call on the Government to recruit more police officers and fire-fighters; and further call on the Government to end the public sector pay cap and give the emergency and public services a fair pay rise.”
Telegraph reported
A number of senior Conservatives had signaled at the start of the day that the pay cap would be removed.
The Telegraph reported,
The Government’s austerity policy descended into chaos on Wednesday as Downing Street suggested it was ready to abandon a 1 per cent cap on public sector pay rises, only to insist hours later that the cap remained in place.
Steve Butler, Isle of Wight Trades Union Council spokesperson, said,
“The IOWTUC will work with unions to keep the pressure up on the Government over pay for these much-valued workers.”
Readers can keep an eye on how Bob Seely votes by visiting his page on the UK Parliament Website.
Article edit
10.20am – Comments from Bob Seely and Steve Butler added.
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
