MPs in line for £6,000 pay rise as basic salary soars above £92,000 a year
MPs are in line for an inflation-busting pay rise of more than £6,000 after a series of public sector wage hikes.
Members of Parliament are set for a 7.1% salary increase from £86,584 to £92,731 - way ahead of inflation, which is running at 4.6%. The expected rise comes because MPs’ pay hikes are linked to changes in average public sector earnings in the October before a pay rise takes effect the following April.
The figure this year was 7.1%. But this exceeds the 5% pay rise negotiated by many frontline health workers, who have been locked in disputes with Government this year.
MPs do not set their own pay and the level is recommended by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), the Westminster watchdog set up following the expenses scandal. Planned pay rises for MPs’ have triggered outrage in the past, with some choosing to forgo their salary hikes or donate the difference to charity.
Parliamentarians had their wages frozen during the pandemic after an outcry at a proposed hike while public sector workers had their wages frozen. But their salaries were boosted by £2,400 in April, taking their basic salary to more than £86,000-a-year.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Do MPs deserve a pay rise? Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.
The “daily attendance allowance” for peers is also expected to rise from £342 to £366.
The Government announced in July that pay rises for teachers, doctors and dentists, civil servants, police, the armed forces, and justice staff would be between 5% and 7% in 2023/24 following recommendations from various pay review bodies.
Ministers have been locked in a series of bitter pay disputes, especially with health and rail unions. Three consecutive days of junior doctors’ strikes are due to start on Wednesday, followed by another six planned next month in the long-running row over wages.
Millionaire ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid claimed earlier this year that MPs' salaries are partly to blame for so why many are quitting Westminster. The former investment banker said the £86,000-a-year basic salary for MPs was "a lot of money - more than double the national average - but you get what you pay for".
Mr Javid said it would be better to "halve the number of MPs and double the salaries" in an event hosted by the Whitehall think tank, the Institute for Government.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
