LOADSAMONEY: MP WHO LET DOWN WASPI WOMEN GETS BIG PAY RISE

By Bill Heaney

Douglas McAllister is just in the door of the House of Commons as West Dunbartonshire’s Member of Parliament — and he is on to a big pay rise already.

Having stayed silent on the withdrawal of  the pensioners’ winter fuel allowance and supported the retention of two child cap on the children’s allowance, not to mention refusing to keep a promise on the WASPI women’s money, Douglas McAllister, left, will  soon be struggling to find space in his wallet for the £100,000 plus he’ll be receiving by way of salary and expenses.

The former Provost of West Dunbartonshire, where he was working as a lawyer and at the same time drawing £55,000 for being a member of the basket case West Dunbartonshire Council in Church Street, he is one of more than 600 MPs who are in line for an inflation-busting 2.8 per cent pay rise this year.

The body in charge of parliamentary salaries has announced this will take their “wages” to almost £94,000.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, said its proposals in part reflect the “vital role” of MPs.

Part of this “vital role” was to turn up in the chamber and speak in support of the WASPI women, but the bold Mr McAllister who promised them he would do that had nothing to say on that score.

Critics are saying the salary hike will be a “bitter pill” to swallow for taxpayers and claimed MPs were being rewarded for failure.

Labour supporters in particular are angry because they claim they have been let down by a cack-handed Cabinet led by Sir Keir Starmer.

People who have voted Labour for years – even party workers – have quit the party and are looking around for somewhere else to support.

Ipsa chairman Richard Lloyd said: “IPSA has been responsible for deciding MPs’ pay since 2011. Since then, our aim has been to make fair decisions on pay, both for MPs and the public.

“Our pay proposal for 2025-26 reflects the experience of the wider working public sector population, and recognises both the vital role of MPs and the current economic climate.”

If approved, the increase would take an MP’s annual salary to £93,904, up from £91,346.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This will be a bitter pill to swallow given politicians of both front benches have for years hammered the living standards of taxpayers.

“MPs are guilty of delivering a record high tax burden, persistent inflation and struggling services, yet are now being rewarded for this catalogue of failures.

“Pay for politicians should be strictly linked to the country’s economic performance, ideally to actual living standards measured by GDP per capita.”

Last March, No 10 said then prime minister Rishi Sunak would accept an inflation-busting 5.5 per cent increase in his MP’s pay after Ipsa recommended the basic salaries be increased from £86,584.

Read it and weep: The tissue of lies Douglas McAllister told the electorate before the local council elections.

The rise was higher than the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation.

At that stage Ipsa said the decision had been taken in line with the award recently agreed for the senior civil servants.

At the start of the last Parliament, in 2019, MPs were paid £79,468.

The latest Ipsa proposal is in line with the government’s recommendations on a wider public sector pay increase for this year and slightly above the current inflation rate of 2.5 per cent.