UK MPs to vote on pay hike

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

July 3: British MPs will vote later on Thursday to decide whether of give themselves a 4.4 per cent pay hike despite Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision that members of Parliament should not accept an above-inflation pay rise like recent public sector raises.

Mr Brown and his council of ministers have decided not to hike their salaries in 2008 due to credit crunch.

The House of Commons on Thursday will decide whether to accept the government’s of restrained pay hike worth about 2.2 per cent or an inflation-busting 4.4 per cent pay rise.

Mr Brown again urged MPs to follow the example of public sector workers by accepting a below-inflation pay rise. Addressing the House of Commons liaison committee, Mr Brown hailed the three-year public sector pay deals which have seen 1.75 million workers such as nurses, teachers and doctors accept rises ranging between 2.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent, lower than inflation at 3.3 per cent.

"I hope that MPs will recognise that the settlements in the public sector for key workers have been around 2.3 per cent, 2.4 per cent, 2.5 per cent when they vote on this year’s pay in the House of Commons," the Prime Minister said.

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Britain to double aid to Pakistan

Islamabad, July 3: Britain is to double assistance to Pakistan to £480 by 2011, making it the second biggest recipient of British aid, with greater emphasis on the militancy-plagued border with Afghanistan.

The aid increase was announced by British secretary of state for International Development Douglas Alexander during a meeting with Pakistan’s finance minister Syed Naveed Qamar in Islamabad, Qamar’s ministry said.

"Britain assistance will continue to focus on health and on good governance and earthquake affected areas’ reconstruction," the ministry said.

"There will now be an additional emphasis on assistance to the border areas as well as on education," the ministry said.

—Reuters