Independent MP Zarah Sultana has stressed that, amid the Labour government’s current DWP austerity drive targeting disabled people, it is “simply wrong” for MPs to be getting an “inflation-busting pay rise” of £2,558, bringing their already excessive salary to £93,904 per year. Paying this extra money to 650 politicians in parliament would cost the public £1,662,700, which could make a big difference elsewhere.
Zarah Sultana takes MPs to task
Sultana insisted:
MPs getting a 2.8% pay rise is indefensible when the Chancellor is set to announce the biggest cuts to disability benefits on record.
And countering claims from some cynical MPs that it’s difficult to return the pay rise, she stressed:
It’s simple: MPs can just donate the extra pay. I’m giving mine to disabled people’s organisations & urge my colleagues to do the same.
MPs getting a 2.8% pay rise is indefensible when the Chancellor is set to announce the biggest cuts to disability benefits on record tomorrow.
It’s simple: MPs can just donate the extra pay. I’m giving mine to disabled people’s organisations & urge my colleagues to do the same. https://t.co/AlgJEEcsyP
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) March 25, 2025
She had previously explained that she would be donating her extra pay:
to charities supporting disabled people in Coventry & across the country
Of course, some MPs do do something with their salaries already. It comes to something when an ex-Reform MP is donating their entire salary – putting Labour MPs to shame as well – as Rupert Lowe reminded the Canary:
I donate my entire net MP salary every month, and have done since my election.
Don't suppose you'll share that though, will you?
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) March 28, 2025
Massively out of step with UK incomes
While MPs will get around £94,000, most workers (and key workers in particular) in Britain would need to work several years to get that. For example:
- Care workers and home carers get only £18,084 a year.
- Farm workers get £21,775.
- Construction workers get £26,000.
- Bus and coach drivers get £26,349
- Nurses get £32,451.
- Primary-level teachers get £35,767, and secondary teachers £38,473.
For people unable to work, meanwhile, you might get somewhere between £5,000 and £9,000 a year. Yet disabled people have become the target of brutal cuts for MPs who are receiving a pay rise that could make a massive difference in most people’s lives.
Link MPs’ pay to integrity
Speaking about the pay rise, economist Richard Murphy suggested that there should be certain conditions in place if MPs insist on receiving such a high salary. He insisted that, firstly:
this has to be their only job, and far too many of them are freeloading with other jobs as well.
He also argued that:
Secondly, they cannot take freebies. It is unacceptable that they get free tickets to Sabrina Carpenter concerts. It’s also unacceptable that they get so many bungs to support their work from large companies.
He also criticised the system of parties whipping their MPs, effectively making them tools of their leaders rather than competent professionals making their own judgements. And he stressed that the current electoral system where powerful parties with significant corporate resources dominate also ensures that MPs are overwhelmingly servants to the whims of their party leaders.
Featured image via the Canary
