Number 10 calls for ‘restraint’ on MPs pay rise in face of planned £2,000 increase
Downing Street has today called on parliament’s standards body to “show restraint” and not give MPs a large pay rise in April given the current cost of living crunch faced by families.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is set to increase MPs’ pay by £2,000 on 1 April in line with public sector pay increases.
MPs are currently paid a base salary of £81,932 per year.
The pay rise would come in the same month that National Insurance will increase by 1.25 per cent and energy bills will rise by up to £700 a year due to the increase in the energy price cap.
The Resolution Foundation think tank estimates these events will lead to households losing out on £1,200 this year on average.
When asked today about a potential £2,000 pay rise for MPs this year, Johnson’s official spokesman told journalists: “We would expect restraint on matters like this given the current circumstances.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that MPs should not be given a pay rise at all this year.
“I think that MPs do not need a pay rise and we should all be saying that we don’t need that pay rise and it shouldn’t go ahead,” he said.
“The mechanism is independent but I think it’s for me, as leader of the opposition, to say that I do not think we should have that pay rise.”