MPs will get a rise of nearly £1,000 in their basic salary from 1 April, taking their pay to £65,737 a year, it was announced today.
The 1.5% increase has been recommended by the Senior Salaries Review Body, which calculates MPs’ pay based on the median increases given to 15 other groups of public sector workers.
However, the government says ministers will turn down the rise – reflecting public anger at the MPs’ expenses scandal and public sector union disquiet over pay freezes, reports the BBC.
Cabinet ministers currently get an extra £79,754 per year, giving them a total salary of £144,520.
The Local Government Association has said 1.4 million workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will get no pay rise as councils try to protect front-line services and minimise job losses.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of public sector workers’ union Unison, accepted the review’s recommendations should be honoured.
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“However, it does not seem right that MPs can get a 1.5% pay increase – worth £1,000 a year on basic pay – when low-paid workers such as teaching assistants, school dinner ladies, social care workers, road sweepers will get nothing, because their pay is being frozen,” he added.
“They [the MPs] might also want to contemplate the speeches and seminars calling for lengthy pay restraint in the public sector, and the damage they cause to morale and public confidence.”
