Coronavirus: Tory MP pledges to donate part of her £79,000 salary to help those struggling

'It is not much but I feel helpless in many other ways and my inbox is breaking my heart', says Tracey Crouch

Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch (Getty)

A Conservative former minister has vowed to donate most of her salary in the comings months to those hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tracey Crouch said handing over the majority of her pay packet was the "least I can do" to help people that are struggling and she would focus on projects to help those in financial hardship or at risk of domestic abuse.

MPs receive a basic annual salary of £79,498, which is set to rise to £81,932 from 1 April, with expenses to cover staffing parliamentary offices also due to increase

"I will be giving most of my salary for the foreseeable future to hardship funds to support those who find themselves out of work and in financial need and domestic abuse services," Ms Crouch told Kent Online.

"At the end of the day when this passes, which it will, I will still have a job but there are many who won’t and will experience challenges that no one could have foreseen or planned for.

"It is not much but I feel helpless in many other ways and my inbox is breaking my heart. This is the least I can do."

The former sports minister, who resigned over delays to curbs on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals in 2018, also said she would join the government's army of NHS volunteers to support the most vulnerable during the crisis.

More than 170,000 people responded to an appeal from health secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday to deliver food and medicines to the 1.5 million vulnerable people told to stay inside for 12 weeks.

GPs have asked people with conditions such as severe respiratory illnesses and certain cancers to "shield" themselves for the next three months to ease the pressure on the NHS.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England's medical director, said he had been "bowled over" by the numbers of people signing up as volunteers and medics returning to the frontline.

Prof Powis said: "Overnight 170,000 people have signed up - that's three a minute to help the NHS.

"It's an absolutely astonishing response."

Mr Hancock said 11,788 recently retired NHS staff had responded to the call, including 2,660 doctors, more than 2,500 pharmacists and other staff and 6,147 nurses.

Some 5,500 final-year medics and 18,700 final-year student nurses will also move to the front line next week.

Volunteers can sign up here: https://www.goodsamapp.org/NHS.