Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, said she doesn’t think “anybody having a salary of that level is appropriate”

A Conservative MP has suggested that no one should be paid more than a million pounds a year.

Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, told MPs: “I don’t think anybody having a salary of that level is appropriate, whatever business they are in”. She was responding to a question about whether it was acceptable for directors of a company that houses asylum seekers to have been paid a total of £1.2 million, with one earning £872,927.

Labour, which has argued for maximum pay ratios between executives and staff, said it welcomed her stance. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said: “I will send her a party membership application. It is quite clear she is on the same page as us on this and we welcome her conversion.”