MPs' basic pay set to increase by more than £2,000 in April

Annual adjustment - effective from 1 April - means MPs' salaries will increase from £77,379 to £79,568 - a hike of £2,089.

(UK Parliament/PA)

MPs' basic pay is set to increase by more than £2,000 in April, taking their salary to almost £80,000, the parliamentary expenses watchdog has announced.

The above inflation increase has triggered a backlash from campaigners and some MPs, who have compared the rise to that of civil servants and parliamentary staff.

The annual adjustment - effective from 1 April - means MPs' salaries will increase from £77,379 to £79,568 - a hike of £2,089.

Salaries of MPs are linked to average rises in the public sector, as determined by the Office for National Statistics.

The 2.7 per cent figure was announced by the ONS on an interim basis in December and confirmed last week to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which made the final announcement.

Hitting out at the pay-rise, Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: "It is an outrage that MPs are rewarding themselves with an above-inflation pay rise while civil servants, who do some of the most vital jobs in society, are still subject to a cruel one per cent de-facto pay cap."

The Labour MP Kevin Barron said he was "very disappointed" at the move to "award MPs a 2.7 per cent pay increase but only 1.5 per cent for parliamentary staff".

"I urge them to look again at the budgets as it cannot be right that the gap is so great."

Harry Fone, a campaign manager at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "A lot of taxpayers are going to be annoyed with this announcement.

"In the private sector, pay rises and bonuses and rewarded bases on performance, not for just turning up. IPSA are once again out of touch with the public."

It follows a 1.8 per cent boost to MPs' pay last year, 1.4 per cent in 2017, 1.3 per cent in 2016 and a big increase from £67,000 to £74,000 in July 2015.

Ipsa also announced that the chairs of the Commons committees will enjoy a 2.7 per cent increase to the additional salary they receive on top of their basic pay, taking it from £15,509 to £15,928.

Asked about the pay rise, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The decision taken today is independent of government and parliament.

"What government sets are ministerial salaries and they have been frozen since 2010."