LONDON
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is set to increase MPs' pay by 11% that could see MPs paid £74,000 by 2015.
The £7,600 pay rise would take effect after the next general election. The watchdog has come under criticism from political leaders for their decision. The IPSA announced a consultation in June has been criticised for the move by parliamentarians who argue that it is wrong to have a pay increase at a time where many public sector workers have had their pay frozen.
MPs currently get paid £66,396 a year. All three major political parties have denounced the pay increase at a time of austerity. Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, have promised not to accept the pay increase.
After the expenses scandal, the law was changed from allowing MPs to set their own pay to the IPSA setting their pay. The IPSA was created as an independent body that carried research into MPs' pay. There is no way for MPs to change the proposed pay rise unless the law is changed to revert back to MPs setting their own wages.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas took to social networking site Twitter and said, “My view is that proposed MP pay rise of 11% is completely wrong, and I would not take it.”
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