MP McMahon blasts paltry sick pay rise

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon has blasted the Conservative Government for failing to learn lessons from the areas hit hardest by the pandemic, after Statutory Sick Pay rose 50p to £96.35 a week earlier in the week.

The small rise comes a year after the Health Secretary admitted that he couldn’t live on Statutory Sick Pay, which works out around a fifth of the average weekly wage.

Mr McMahon said: “Time and again over the last year MPs, experts and campaigners have been warning the government that they will never get a hold of transmission if there isn’t the proper financial support in place for people to be able to self-isolate.

“You can’t make people choose between their health and putting food on the table and claim that you’re doing everything you can to fight the pandemic.

"You really do begin to understand why people have made certain choices when their family’s finances would take such a hit.

“It’s absolutely vital that as we begin to unlock, we have the proper structures in place to enable people to self-isolate when required.

"And it’s fair to say that the paltry rise to Statutory Sick Pay this week is totally inadequate.

“And this is before you even get into the fact that thousands of workers here in Oldham don’t earn enough to qualify for Statutory Sick Pay in the first place.

"This Tory Government have failed to learn the lessons of the last year that we here in Oldham warned them about.”

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