All in this together? Tories take big pay-rises


by Sunny Hundal    
June 22, 2010 at 1:43 pm

While George Osborne and Boris Johnson keep saying “we are all in this together”, that call doesn’t seem to have been adopted by their juniors.

Adam Bienkov reports that Boris Johnson’s fire chief, Brian Coleman, has awarded himself a 9% rise in pay.

The basic allowance given to other members of the authority would also increase by 38%.

The rises come as George Osborne is expected to announce pay freezes across the public sector.

Before Brian Coleman was chairman of the Fire Authority, that post did not even have allowances attached to it. They have been introduced by the new Tory administration.

9% rise!

Last year Boris attacked unions for not conducting “any meaningful talks on pay, instead submitting a wildly unrealistic claim”.

Why doesn’t he apply the same rules to people working under him?


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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


1. Watchman

Sunny,

As Mr Bienkov makes clear, this is a proposal in leaked documents, not something that has happened or even necessarily been formally discussed. Whilst clearly not acceptable unless Mr Coleman has taken on extra responsibilities, you cannot present this as a fact.

2. Yurrzem!

There’s a lot more to this. The tories have manipulated the LFEPB to their own ends. They used disgraced councillor Bertha Joseph to manipulate the outcome of board decisions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzHwCRcXYy0) and have refused to negotiate on changes of working patterns with elected representatives of firefighters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFAZOgYY3Ts). Disgraced councillor Betty Evans-Jacas was thrown out of Labour and immediatley turned tory without resigning her position on the board, thus removing its normal political neutrality.

If you live in London you should be concerned that Coleman’s policies threaten your 24-hour fire cover. His gerrymandered board are unlikely to stop him.

3. Gould

What’s the differences between “allowances” and “expenses” or are they the same thing?

If so, this seems to be no big deal really as Coleman’s claims for the last full year were £3,730, of which £1784 was the cost of the London-wide annual travel card issued to all City Hall bigwigs.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Catherine Neilan

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  2. James Cowley

    RT @psbook: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  3. Ashley Bullard

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  4. Oxford Kevin

    RT @libcon All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  5. manishta sunnia

    RT @oxkev: RT @libcon All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  6. Alan J Slater

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  7. Greg Eden

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  8. Kath Richardson

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt <that makes sense

  9. Liberal Conspiracy

    All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  10. Just Another Gooner

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  11. Andrew Barnes

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  12. sunny hundal

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  13. Adam Bienkov

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  14. PlutoPress

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  15. Lucy Proctor

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  16. Niall Millar

    RT: @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  17. Political Scrapbook

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  18. Jonn Elledge

    This is just disgusting: Tories awarding themselves 9% pay rises: http://bit.ly/cglH0o

  19. Andy Sutherland

    RT @psbook: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  20. No Sweat

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  21. Andy Buckley-Taylor

    RT @psbook: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  22. Amazing

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  23. Sandra Paiva

    @drmaybe mas nada disto interessa, já que "we are all in it together". ou talvez nao > http://ow.ly/21ES3

  24. Liberal Conspiracy

    In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  25. PlutoPress

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  26. drmaybe

    @SandraPPaiva era como o outro a quem tanto faz que lhe tirem 5% do ordenado RT http://ow.ly/21ES3

  27. Martin Binfield

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  28. Rachael

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  29. Daniel Walker

    RT @libcon: In case you missed it… Tories say "we're all in this together" while trying to claim big pay rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  30. David Constable

    RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt

  31. Rogue

    RT @libcon All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cc7Yz8

  32. linda nicklin

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @libcon: All in this together? Tory chiefs claim huge pay-rises http://bit.ly/cccBdt





  • We have a tight comments policy aimed at fostering constructive debate.
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  • Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy.

 
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