COMMONS Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle must tackle “systemic inequalities” facing nearly 5,000 parliamentary staff employed by MPs, the GMB union’s annual conference heard today.

Delegates said that the current system, under which all 650 MPs individually employ an average of six staff, is “outdated” and should be replaced by a “single, fair and accountable employment system worthy of a modern democracy.”

Moving the motion, Lisa Gillmore said that allowing each MP to set their own employment processes has led to pay gaps across the workforce.

Ms Gillmore, a parliamentary researcher for almost 10 years, said: “I’ve seen the inequality entrenched in our system.

“We see first-hand the barriers that have stopped too many staff from progressing.”

Seconding, Cathleen Clarke said that when MPs debate worker rights in the Commons, “due process is not always followed or understood.

“There are 650 cooks and the broth is being spoiled,” she warned.