“Small police pay rise proves we are not in this together”

ESSEX Police officers are “very angry” that MPs were awarded a 10% pay rise on the same day the country’s cops were awarded 1%.

Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said the difference was “insulting”.

“We keep being told we are all in this together,” he said.

Mr Smith said the two different pay rises were “hardly seen as fair by any of my members who have been very angry about it.”

Police officers will receive a 1% boost to their pay packets from 1 September.

Theresa May accepted the main recommendations of both the Police Remunerations Review Body (PRRB) and the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) to give officers the award.

Both the Police Federation of England and Wales and the Superintendents’ Association asked for an “uplift of 1% for all” in their submission.

Mr Smith added: “Officers are extremely angry. There’s a feeling MPs see themselves far above everybody else and those that are on the ground that are trying to do right by the public, doing a very hard job, are being told ‘Yeah, thanks but you’re getting one percent’.

“of interest rates go up towards the end of the year, which the Bank of England are saying that they possibly could do, we’re going to be going back into that area of possibly almost having a pay drop really.

“So our members and myself are not overly impressed.”