McVey won’t pay for mistake
LABOUR’S bid to force the Government to dock the pay of the Work and Pensions Secretary has been voted down by MPs. The motion to “sanction” Esther McVey by freezing her pay for four weeks – after she misled Parliament over the Tories’ flagship welfare reforms – was defeated by 305 votes to 268. Amid hostile scenes in the Commons ahead of the vote, McVey was urged to halt the rollout of universal credit. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said: “Her approach was shockingly complacent – as if oblivious to the hardship so many people are suffering. “The Secretary of State repeatedly claims her department are testing and learning, but this testing and learning is using people as guinea pigs. This is unacceptable. Where is the dignity?” McVey defended the system and asked Labour to apologise for comments previously made by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who recounted a comment he heard at a public meeting in which someone said the minister should be “lynched”.
McVey also called on the opposition to say sorry for mistakes they made about tax credits and figures on the number of children in poverty.
She added: “It’s not that we can’t all make mistakes – we’ve all made mistakes on various scales of mistakes.”
The SNP’s work and pensions spokesman Neil Gray condemned McVey’s “deplorable conduct” and called on her to “consider her position”.