WORCESTER MP Robin Walker has refuted claims that he has been given a pay rise following his new ministerial appointment..

Mr Walker was appointed parliamentary undersecretary of state for Scotland on July 26, and will be paid the standard junior ministerial salary of £24,477 - the same wage he was paid in his previous job.

Mr Walker said: “The salary for this job is exactly the same as the salary I was on before and is the basic junior minister’s salary.

“It is ridiculous to call it a pay rise. It is the same wage for a different job.”

Worcester’s Labour parliamentary candidate Lynn Denham raised questions about the pay, saying “Robin Walker gets a pay rise, £24,477, which is more than average wage in Worcester of £21,781pa for swearing to support no deal Brexit.”

Former Worcester MP Mike Foster took to Twitter upon the announcement saying: “Surprised on two counts. One being Robin is as “English” as they come - that will play badly in Scotland - and second, that he would sign the pledge for No Deal.

“In Worcester that will matter more. #SoldHisSoul”

Responding to the no deal issue, Mr Walker said: “It is not a pledge to leave without a deal.

“When Boris Johnson appointed me he said that if you are to serve in this government, you have to be willing to show the EU that we are prepared to leave the EU without a deal.

"I said at the time and still believe that we should leave with a deal, and being willing to leave with no deal increases our chances of working together to get a deal.

"Mike and Lynn were playing the game a bit here, I did it myself when I ran against Mike in 2010 and felt rather foolish afterwards."