Aimee Walker
Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley has labelled his annual salary of £81,932 ‘really grim’ and has reportedly ‘demanded’ a pay rise of £20,000.
The longest-serving politician made the comments to New Statesman on the same day millions of people across the UK faced cuts to Universal Credit payments.
The 77-year-old said: “It’s desperately difficult for new MPs, I don’t know how they manage. It’s really grim.”
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The MP for Worthing West wants to see the salary for Members of Parliament brought in line with GPs.
Sir Bottomley explained: “I take the view that being an MP is the greatest honour you could have, but a general practitioner in politics ought to be paid roughly the same as a general practitioner in medicine.
“Doctors are paid far too little nowadays. But if they would get roughly £100,000 a year, the equivalent for an MP to get the same standard of living would be £110-£115,000 a year – it’s never the right time, but if your MP isn’t worth the money, it’s better to change the MP than to change the money.”
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According to the Office of National Statistics, the average salary in the UK is approximately £31,461.
The same day as the MP made the controversial comments, the Department of Work and Pensions brought in a cut to the Universal Credit uplift, a move that will affect almost six million people by £1,000 a year.
The uplift was introduced to help those on benefits during the pandemic, but the government has removed it with the hope of encouraging people to go back to work.
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