Ipsa could give MPs a 15 per cent pay rise

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) is expected to propose a 15 per cent pay rise for MPs from 2015, taking their salaries from £65,738 to over £75,000. However, the body has insisted that no decision has yet been made.

In January we reported that nearly 70 per cent of MPs felt that £65738 wasn’t enough and they should get a 32 per cent pay rise.

Later the same month, we reported that Mr Speaker John Bercow had urged the Prime Minster not to interfere with Ipsa’s decision because he felt a substantial rise would not be popular with the public or the public sector. Bercow himself accepted a 1 per cent rise this year which took his income to £142,162.

Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Politicians shouldn’t get huge pay hikes when taxpayers and other public sector workers are facing pay freezes and cuts. MPs are already very well paid, and have other perks like gold-plated pensions that most taxpayers could never afford for themselves. There can’t be one rule for MPs and another for the rest of the country.”