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Body puts forward MP pay proposal MPs' pay rise 'should be staged'
(about 19 hours later)
The independent body that recommends MPs' pay levels is expected to propose an above-inflation rise of 2.8%. The government says a recommended 2.56% pay rise for MPs should be awarded in two stages - making it worth 1.9%.
However, the government has already said it will reject the Senior Salaries Review Body's proposals due out later. Commons Leader Harriet Harman insisted that the principles of below-inflation pay rises for public sector workers "should also apply to MPs".
MPs have the right to vote on their own pay and Prime Minister Gordon Brown is calling on them to opt for 1.9% to set an example to public sector workers.
All three main parties are backing the lower figure amid controversy over pay for teachers and police officers.All three main parties are backing the lower figure amid controversy over pay for teachers and police officers.
Lead by example MPs will vote on the issue on 24 January, possibly for the last time as the process is being reviewed.
The BBC understands the independent review body will say MPs should receive 2.8% this year and suggest inflation-linked increases for the following two years, with an additional £650 per year as a "catch-up" payment. Curb inflation
The independent Senior Salaries Review Body's recommendations would push an MP's salary up from £60,277 to £61,820.
There would also be an additional £650 per year "catch up" payment over the next three years.
This is to recognise that MPs have had a series of below-inflation increases since 2002.This is to recognise that MPs have had a series of below-inflation increases since 2002.
But Mr Brown has made it clear he wants MPs to lead by example and vote for a rise below the 2% public sector pay limit, set to curb inflation. We shouldn't be awarding ourselves a bigger pay increase than nurses and the police Harriet Harman
And while MPs will have the right to debate and vote on their pay offer this year, Commons leader Harriet Harman has said it could be the last time this happens. And the government said MPs should see their allowances bolstered by almost £10,000 a year to employ additional staff.
A review will examine the use of "objective criteria" to establish MPs' pay, so MPs are not required to vote. Ms Harman said she wanted this to be the last time MPs had a chance to vote on their own pay rise. In future it should be left to an independent body to set salary levels, she said.
Strike threat "I think for years MPs have felt uncomfortable about this. It's absolutely ridiculous. We don't like doing it. I think the public find it objectionable and I think it's time we stopped it."
She said she hoped members would accept the government's recommendations to keep their pay award below inflation.
"It is recognising that because we are paid for by the taxpayer, we shouldn't be awarding ourselves a bigger pay increase than nurses and the police."
Pensions
Ms Harman said the review body had recommended that the pay of Cabinet ministers "should go quite far ahead of MPs".
"We have disagreed with that," she said. "We have said ministers' pay should go up at the same rate as MPs' pay - we should all go up less than 2%."
The government is backing the SSRB's recommendation that future prime ministers, lord chancellors and Commons speakers should have the same pension arrangements as ministers.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Chancellor Jack Straw, currently on £104,386 a year, would forgo the right to take an immediate pension of half their salaries as soon as they leave office - instead they would have to wait until the age of 65.
Mr Brown has made it clear he wants MPs to lead by example and vote for a rise below the 2% public sector pay limit, set to curb inflation.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said he would be supporting the 1.9% pay rise for this year, adding that in future he believed MPs' salaries should be linked to the state pension.
Under pressure
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It would be completely inappropriate for MPs to get a 2.56% pay rise.
"In these rocky economic times we all have to tighten our belts and MPs should lead by example."
The government has been coming under increasing pressure from public sector unions over its 2% ceiling, which they say is effectively a pay cut as it is below the current 2.1% inflation rate.The government has been coming under increasing pressure from public sector unions over its 2% ceiling, which they say is effectively a pay cut as it is below the current 2.1% inflation rate.
However, on Tuesday, teachers were unexpectedly awarded 2.45% as part of a three-year offer. The public sector workers, including police and nurses, have been angered by the government's decision not to pay in full the recommended pay rises. Paying them in two instalments makes them worth 1.9% they say.
The National Union of Teachers had already voted to prepare for a one-day strike in the event of a 2% offer. Mr Brown says such a move is critical to keeping inflation low.
The decision has outraged the Police Federation of England and Wales, which passed a vote of no-confidence in Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last year after she staged their 2.5% award to keep it below the government's 2% inflation target. However, the government has announced that teachers will get a 2.45% increase as part of a three-year offer, sparking anger among police officers.
In December, police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded a 2.5% pay rise but the Police Federation argues it was effectively only a 1.9% rise because the home secretary refused to backdate it to September.
The Scottish Government did agree to backdate the rise to September, as had been recommended by the Police Arbitration Tribunal.
The row has prompted the Police Federation to say it will ballot members in 2008 on whether they want the right to strike, which they are currently banned from doing.
Nurses are being restricted to a 1.9% rise.