David Cameron confirms five-year pay freeze for ministers

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David Cameron has announced that his ministers will have their pay frozen over the next five years.

Writing in The Sunday Times, the Prime Minster said that the salaries of government ministers will remain at their current level over the course of the next parliament.

He says that the freeze will save £800,000 a year, making a total saving of £4 million by the next election.

Cabinet ministers currently receive a salary of £134,565. The Prime Minister makes a little more, with his salary being £142,500. The average full-time wage in the UK in £26,500.

The pay freeze is part of David Cameron's effort to show the public that the country is "all in this together", reflecting his "One Nation" approach to getting rid of the deficit.

The pay freeze only applies to ministers, not Members of Parliament - MPs are actually set for a 9 per cent pay rise later this year, bringing their salary from £67,060 to around £73,000.

That's still below what the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said they should be earning - before the election, IPSA recommended that MPs should be paid £74,000.

Chairs of various parliamentary committees get an extra £14,000 a year, but if they are not chairs, MPs receive no extra pay for their committee work.

However, the government has said that IPSA should reconsider the suggestion of the hefty pay rise, particularly when public sector pay rises are being capped across the country.

IPSA was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, after it was decided that MPs should no longer be responsible for setting their own pay.

The Prime Minister used his Sunday Times column to set out his ambitions to balance the nation's books.

He called his decision to freeze ministerial pay a "clear signal", that sends the message that if we "continue knuckling down as a country, we will all play our part."