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£150 a week raise, just to put it in to perspective, that's about £ 40 less than someone working 40 hours a week on minimum wage, how the other half live eh,? Pity they aren't paid on actual results, then again , they'd always have their expenses fiddle to fall back on...

Yes, and a great number of public servants deserve better than the 1% humiliation handed down to them by Parliament. If MPs accept their pay rise, as they should, they should abandon any one law for us and one law for them and give the nurses, teachers, soldiers and so on what they too deserve, and put up Income Tax to pay for it.

Ringfencing the executive bonuses and golden handshakes and upholding the dodgy PFI deals for decades is hardly the best way to cut the deficit and yet maintain public services at the level they ought to be.

I would add a clause requiring elected MPs to forego their other interests for as long as they are paid to act as our representatives. Above all, they are not nearly strict enough about shady business deals and lobbying among friends. Any hint of corruption and there should be a by-election. No messing. In return, they should be paid at a level where they need not have to worry about dodgy dealing and self-promotion in order to keep going.

Maybe too, we could consider punitive taxation for those who over-reward their staff, and have a 75% tax band for any salary (including bonus) exceeding that of the PM, unless it is ploughed straight back into our economy, donated to a good cause, or deposited with a national investment bank for recovery in hard times.

Of course we already know that trickle down economics simply doesn't work. Never has and never will! A far better system would be to distribute wealth at the grass roots level and let 'Our' representatives take the trickle down effect for a change! What would happen? First, we'd hamper this crony capitalist system from getter even deeper than it is at the moment and then representatives would begin to actually represent us because they're paychecks would be directly affected by public demand and their performance. Let the market dictate the system with this trickle up economics! If MP's want more money let them pursue business instead of politics. One of the many problems in the world is simply because politics IS so heavily involved in economics and they've become synonymous with one another. Anyway, there's a few thoughts!

no

Like many people I have not had a rise for 3 years... and any we have been told that - for the foreseeable future - any rise depends on 'exceeding performance expectations', or bringing in new business.

I would like to see a similar model brought in for MP's pay.

There was a time when MPs didn't get paid at all - they did the job because they felt they had an obligation to serve their country. Now instead of service it's a case of what they can get out of it rather than what they can contribute. You pays your money and you gets your choice.

No they don't but let's remember the conservatives introduced a bill to reduce the number of Mps which would have paid for what could have been called a productivity increase.Clegg and his idiots blocked this.

No more than say local councillors should have their suits paid for, MPs should have the mortgage of a second house paid for or members of the EU committees should have their children's private funding paid for

No

they seem to forget 'we're all in this together'

It is an absolute slap in the face to people working ,getting NMW. people with reduced hours

and people on zero hour contracts

MP's seem to have no idea how the working man/woman survives

Only if we remove their expenses and let them survive like the rest of us.

Of course they do...

They clearly are by far the most intelligent elements of the UK electorate...