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Original poster

MPs to get a 10% pay rise

21 replies

Shinyandnew1 · 02/06/2015 22:17

bbc

Didn't they get an 11% pay rise last year?

It becomes very difficult to accept the years of pay freezes we have had along with the imminent and unknown £12b of cuts to come to working age people, when you read things like this :(

I'm sure they work jolly hard, but so do nurses, teachers and police officers and they are being told to lump it...

OP posts:
TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 02/06/2015 22:20

Saw that coming a mile off.

netguru2 · 02/06/2015 22:23

No they didn't get a pay rise last year. It's the same announcement from the independent body charged with looking at it. All the parties have said it should not go through.

Original poster
Shinyandnew1 · 02/06/2015 22:26

Who is in charge of the 'independent body review'?! Why doesn't an 'independent body review' ever say that nurses should get a 10% pay rise?

OP posts:
TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 02/06/2015 22:30

I suppose on the other hand, it's important that the wage reflects the temporary naturw of the job, the stress of it, and that it allows people from all walks of life to do the job (not just those who can live on their trust funds).

However, I also think it's not on, that some of them abuse their position for various privileges. Expenses scandals, gettings jobs for their family members, setting up jobs for after their term in office etc. There needs to be tightening up of the rules.

prh47bridge · 02/06/2015 23:49

Didn't they get an 11% pay rise last year

There should be a decimal point in there. Last year they got a rise of 1.1%.

Who is in charge of the 'independent body review'

The IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority), chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, a lawyer. MPs will not get a vote on this, which was the whole point of moving MPs pay out of their control and giving it to an independent body. I note that there have been some suggestions that MPs could change the law to prevent the proposed increase which rather undermines the point of giving the decision to an independent body in the first place.

Expenses scandals

The rules have already been tightened up considerably and further changes have just been introduced. MPs can no longer claim £15 for a meal if the house sits after 7.30pm. They can only claim for a hotel if it is booked after 1am.

getting jobs for their family members

MPs can now only employ one family member.

BoneyBackJefferson · 03/06/2015 07:23

"I suppose on the other hand, it's important that the wage reflects the temporary naturw of the job, the stress of it,"

The standard responses to this are:

they new the nature of the job when they took it.
and
if they don't like it they could leave and get a different job.

I am sure that there are other 'stock' phrases that will also fit here.

mrstiggy · 03/06/2015 07:44

I don't think they need paying more due to the temporary nature of their job. I've worked temporary contracts before, never have I been rewarded with higher wages just because the job has an end date.
I'm also pretty sure they knew the nature of their job before campaigning for it so I'm not convinced they need a mark up for 'stress'.
A living wage is obviously necessary, but as they have considered minimum wage to be enough to live on the rest is just optional really. Don't they have the courage of their convictions? Wink
I'm being a bit lighthearted really on the last point. I guess pay also links with status, and they do a pretty important job (so I'm told anyway!) but I do think they need to stop talking at cross purposes. They can't say 'we have no money so you all must live on air whilst we cut everything' with one hand but then say 'we deserve to be paid more so will take a wage increase' with the other.
On a similar note, they manged to impliment a system where job seekers are sanctioned if they don't turn up when they should, it would be nice if MPs had similar rules. Smile

Original poster
Shinyandnew1 · 03/06/2015 08:02

They can't say 'we have no money so you all must live on air whilst we cut everything' with one hand but then say 'we deserve to be paid more so will take a wage increase' with the other.

This-exactly this.

It's rather-'Let them eat cake'! Totally out of touch or just not giving a shit, I'm not sure which.

The pitchforks are coming, I reckon...

OP posts:
mistymeanour · 03/06/2015 18:15

They get paid reasonably well, get expenses and have gold plated pensions for serving a lot less than the 30 years I need to to get an occupational pension. Yes, the job is temporary but they often do a second (or third job) at the same time and it opens up huge opportunities for other work on quangos, for charity bodies, TV and radio, consultancy for lobbying groups etc.when they leave.

Some MP's work really hard but others who have a myriad of other income streams and jobs couldn't possibly be, yet they are all rewarded the same.

It's a great salary for the 21 year old SNP MP. Bet she can't believe her luck!

prh47bridge · 04/06/2015 00:01

They can't say 'we have no money so you all must live on air whilst we cut everything' with one hand but then say 'we deserve to be paid more so will take a wage increase' with the other.

But they aren't saying that. The IPSA has come up with this rise, not MPs. The IPSA is cutting a number of benefits and increasing the salary. They say that this will be neutral overall in terms of cost. But MPs have no say in this whatsoever.

We all complained about MPs setting their own pay, which is part of why their salaries have risen more slowly than average earnings for many years. MPs have done what we, the public, wanted and given the decision to an independent body and even changed the law so that they cannot vote on their own pay. They don't have any say in it and they don't get a vote. Exactly what we wanted. But now people are complaining because the independent body has recommended an 11% pay rise.

BarbarianMum · 04/06/2015 15:47

MP's are getting an 11% pay rise? Well, thank God - that'll take the pressure off the food banks Hmm

mrstiggy · 05/06/2015 10:23

I guess you can't get away from it still feeling suspicious though. They set up an independent panel who in return then decide those people deserve more of our money. Which, if we believe the government , we don't have. That's the main issue.
I happen to believe nurses and the police and firemen deserve a pay raise, along with quite a few others. But we are told as much as it is deserved it's just not affordable. Sorry nurses, carry on as you are for a while - it's better for the economy. Why is that not the case here?

squidzin · 16/07/2015 12:24

I noticed in today's Independent that this has been confirmed to go ahead, and back dated to May 8th.

Why do we bother. Theiving scummers.

weeburrower1 · 16/07/2015 12:29

To be fair, they are saying that expenses are being cut etc and that it won't cost the public purse any extra.

Ultimately, they do have a say and can refuse the rise, as some of them are.

prh47bridge · 16/07/2015 13:04

No they can't refuse the rise. They can, however, donate it to charity. A number of them have said they will do so.

And I do not think that being paid what a whole series of independent reviews says is the correct rate for the job makes them thieving scummers, especially when the benefits they are losing at the same time means this won't cost us, the taxpaying public, a penny more.

WayneRooneysHair · 16/07/2015 13:11

I'm not surprised.

Yvette Cooper isn't happy:

Yvette Cooper, the Labour leadership candidate, has put out a statement saying David Cameron should intervene to block the MPs? pay rise. She said:

This is crazy. How on earth has David Cameron allowed this to happen? He needs to step in urgently and stop this MPs pay rise going ahead. The idea of increasing MPs pay by 10% at a time when nurses, care workers, police officers and our armed forces face another five years pay freeze is completely unfair. The Tories are cutting tax credits for ordinary families yet allowing this Ipsa increase to go ahead.

I made it clear from the outset that this pay rise should not go ahead, and that MPs pay needs to reflect the wider conditions in the public finances and the economy. If it does now go ahead, I won?t take it. If that is impossible then I will put the money towards something like funding an apprenticeship or similar cause in my constituency. But I hope the prime minister does the right thing and intervenes to stop Ipsa pressing ahead with this.

pastmyduedate0208 · 17/07/2015 18:19

Expenses being cut?

In other words, now they can't pickpocket, sorry claim "expenses" for doing up their private buy-to-let property, or buying ££££ massive bookcases made out of endangered wood for their personal library, or getting their moat cleaned on one of their many private properties...
Or using tax money to bribe police to cover up their pedophile activity.
So now they need a pay rise?

FAITH IN OUR POLITICIANS IS AT ALL TIME LOW.

Kardamyli · 18/07/2015 12:26

When I read this in the press yesterday I was honestly shocked that MPs are paid so little. I am paid more than they are and my job (whilst quite specialist and involving long hours) doesn't come with the hassles of being an MP. I'm not in London, but the vast majority of professionals in London are paid way more than MPs.

There seems to be a strand of thought on Mumsnet that everyone should be on the same pay as someone doing a job that a 12 year old could do. I just don't get it. If you all want to be paid as much as MPs, go and find a job that pays that much! If you have sufficient education and skill you will be able to find one.

prh47bridge · 18/07/2015 17:53

Yvette Cooper, the Labour leadership candidate, has put out a statement

which is a barefaced lie. She knows perfectly well that David Cameron cannot intervene to stop this.

We, the public, did not like MPs setting their own pay believing (wrongly) that they awarded themselves overly generous increases. In fact MP salaries have risen slower than average earnings for a long time.

We, the public, wanted MP's pay set by an independent body so that MPs had no say in setting their own pay. The last Labour government set up IPSA and, with all party support, gave it responsibility for setting MP's salaries.

Now Yvette Cooper is saying that David Cameron can step in and stop the pay rise. He can't. She is well aware of that. The only way it can be stopped is for Parliament to repeal the relevant provisions in the Parliamentary Standards Act, in which case we would be back to MPs setting their own pay.

It seems to me that we want it all ways. We don't want MPs to set their own pay but we do want them to set their own pay if the independent body set up to determine their pay gives them a pay rise we think is too large but which actually still leaves them falling behind the rise in average earnings since 2000.

GraysAnalogy · 18/07/2015 17:54

An independant body did say nurses should. It was ignored and nurses had to fight for the 1%.

Greengardenpixie · 11/09/2015 16:01

i know this is an old thread but I am pretty annoyed. we have been advised to take a pay rise of 1.5% this year by our union cause its the best we are going to get. 11% is what only us mere mortals can ever dream of.

Independent body my arse. Its all sewn up neatly i am sure.

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