The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority announced on Thursday that MPs’ basic pay will rise from £77,379 to £79,468, with additional salary for committee chairs increasing by 2.7% from £15,509 to £15,928.
Critics point to the fact that this increase is above the (CPI) inflation rate of 1.8% and is almost double the 1.5% increase given to parliamentary staff, while the announcement met with a backlash from unions.
Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of the union Prospect, said: “Our members will see more than a whiff of hypocrisy and double standards in the announcement.
“There has not been a government in peace time so reliant on the hard work and dedication of the civil service and its agencies. For MPs to be awarded 2.7% when pay rises for those who serve them are held down at 1.5% or less demonstrates a remarkable level of contempt.”
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said the pay rise was “an outrage”.
“PCS is balloting 120,000 members for strike action over pay and today’s news will only anger them further,” he said.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The decision taken today is independent of government and parliament. What government sets are ministerial salaries and they have been frozen since 2010.”
Last year, MPs received a pay rise worth 1.8%.
