During the Parliamentary debate on political salaries in September 2026, Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh addressed the proposed salary reviews.
The Workers' Party agreed with the increase in MP allowances specifically—rather than supporting unconstrained ministerial pay raises—for several key reasons:
* Inflationary Adjustments: MP allowances had not been adjusted in years, and the WP supported an increase to keep pace with long-term inflation and the rising cost of living.
* Support for Groundwork and Assistants: WP noted that the allowances for Legislative Assistants and Secretarial Assistants (who support MPs in constituency and parliamentary work) had remained stagnant since 2007. Upgrading allowances ensures MPs can adequately compensate administrative staff to serve constituents effectively.
* Support for a Moderated Cap on Ministerial Pay: WP endorsed the Prime Minister's decision to cap immediate ministerial salary increases at up to 9% (rather than adopting the full increase recommended by the review committee) as a more sober and practical approach.
[B]
Key Distinctions in WP's Position
While supporting the MP allowance adjustment, WP maintained a clear distinction between MP allowances and Ministerial compensation structures:
* Alternative Calculation Formula: WP argued against pegging Ministerial salaries directly to a discount off the top 1,000 private sector earners. Instead, WP advocated for their own long-standing 2012 formula, which pegs a Minister's salary as a transparent multiple of an MP's allowance.
* Focus on Service over Remuneration: While acknowledging that adequate allowances help enable parliamentary work, WP emphasized that financial remuneration is not what drives opposition candidates to step forward into public service.[/B]