MPs are to receive an inflation-busting 2.8 per cent pay rise this year – taking their wages to almost £94,000.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, said the move would reflect the “vital role” of MPs.
But the increase comes as MPs prepare to vote on moves that will see an estimated million disabled people lose their benefits, after Labour took an axe to the UK’s ballooning welfare bill.
Even before the pay rise was confirmed critics said it would be a “bitter pill” for taxpayers to swallow and MPs were being rewarded for failure.
But Ipsa said the move was in line with government pay recommendations for public sector workers.
IPSA is required to review MPs’ salaries within the first year of a new parliament and said it would consult on MPs’ pay for the rest of the parliamentary term in the next few months.
The increase will take an MP’s annual salary to £93,904, up from £91,346.
The Commons is expected to vote in favour of plans to slash benefits by the work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, aimed at saving £5bn by 2030, much of which will fall on personal independence payment (PIP) by raising the threshold for qualification.
Charities, trade unions and left-wing Labour MPs have branded the changes “immoral”, while there was some welcome for other moves, including a decision not to freeze the level of PIP and ending regular assessments for those with severe disabilities.
When the MPs’ pay rise was first proposed last month, John O’Connell, chief executive of 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.
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“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.
“Pay for politicians should be strictly linked to the country’s economic performance, ideally to actual living standards measured by GDP per capita.”
At the start of the last Parliament, in 2019, MPs were paid £79,468.
When the proposed pay rise was first announced it was slightly above the then inflation rate of 2.5 per cent. Since then, however, inflation has risen to 3 per cent.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said MPs do not have the power to accept or decline the pay rise, pointing out that IPSA is independent. “But it obviously is up to every MP what they do with their salary,” the spokesman said.
He added that the government has continued a freeze on ministerial pay that has been in place since 2010.
