MPs pay will soar to £93,904 next year as Commons bosses recommend a hike of more than £2,000.
The 2.8 per cent rise – which is above the rate of inflation – was branded “a bitter pill to swallow” amid pensioners losing their winter fuel payments and farmers taking to the streets again to protest tax hikes.
Pay for MPs will soar to £93,904 next year[/caption]
But the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority who set MPs pay, insisted it “reflects the experience of the wider working public sector population.”
It is set to be rubber stamped after a short public consultation next month.
Members of Parliament are currently paid £91,346, before the expected uplift of more than £2,000 due in April.
Defending the hike, Ipsa chairman Richard Lloyd said it “recognises both the vital role of MPs and the current economic climate.”
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MPs do not determine their own salaries, which have been set by Ipsa since the watchdog was established in 2011 in the wake of the expenses scandal.
Mr Lloyd said the body aims to “make fair decisions on pay, both for MPs and the public”.
But campaigners, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This will be a bitter pill to swallow given politicians of both front benches have for years hammered the living standards of taxpayers.
“MPs are guilty of delivering a record high tax burden, persistent inflation and struggling services, yet are now being rewarded for this catalogue of failures.
Boss John O’Connell added: “”Pay for politicians should be strictly linked to the country’s economic performance, ideally to actual living standards measured by GDP per capita.”
Under the law MPs pay must be reviewed within the first year of a new parliament.
However due to the fact that the anniversary of the July 2024 election falls into the next tax year, the body decided the 2.8 per cent uplift as an “interim measure”.
