The Select Committee on the Remuneration of Ministers, in its
report issued last week, proposed that the Prime Minister should be paid a salary of £8,000, instead of £5,000, in ecni- sideration of his increased burdens and responsibilities. The Committee expressed the belief that no modern Prime Minister had been able to live on his salary. The salaries but not the offices of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord President of the Council and the Chancellor of the Dnohy of Lancaster, and of the Minister without Portfolio, should be abolished. Out of the £19,000 a year thus saved, Ministers of Cabinet rank should have their salaries raised, if necessary, to £5,000 a year, which should be the normal pay of every Cabinet Minister. The Ministers should be arranged in five classes, with salaries of £5,000, £3,000, £2,000, £1,500, and £1,000 respectively. The first class should include twelve Ministers, with whom the Lord Chancellor would rank. The second class should include the Ministries of Agriculture, Labour, and Transport. The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General should have theirsalaries of £7,000 and £6,000 reduced by £2,000 apiece, apart from fees. The proposed redistribution of salaries would increase the total cost of the Ministry from £158,625 to £162,000. We are all for economy, but the country cannot afford to underpay its Ministers. Moreover, we must have a pension scheme for ex-Cabinet Ministers.
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