Labour's Northern Ireland spokesman has urged James Brokenshire not to cut MLAs' pay.
Against the backdrop of continued deadlock at Stormont, the secretary of state said on Wednesday that he is seeking advice on what steps can be taken to "reflect the current circumstances in MLA pay".
Earlier this week, Alliance's Naomi Long said assembly members' pay should be cut by 30 per cent.
The collective salaries of Stormont's 90 MLAs, who have not sat since January, cost the public purse more than £1 million each month.
Any reduction in their £49,500-a-year pay packets would mirror a move in 2002, when then secretary of state John Reid slashed MLAs' pay by 30 per cent as direct rule was introduced.
Speaking in Westminster yesterday, Shadow Northern Ireland spokesman Owen Smith urged Mr Brokenshire to resist "short-term pressure to cut MLAs’ pay".
"Cutting politicians’ pay is always a popular thing to argue for, but we need this generation of Northern Irish politicians to work and talk together to try to bring about power-sharing," he said.
"While he is right that patience is wearing thin in Northern Ireland, he should resist steps that would undermine the ability of the parties, particularly the smaller ones, to negotiate and engage."
