So, in the wake of their ex's scandal our chastened MPs...

Posted: Fri 19 Jun 2009 8 54 pm

are looking at a 15% pay increase...

MPs who have been shamed and humiliated by revelations about their expenses could be in line for a pay rise of up to 15 per cent.

In evidence to a Commons committee, overshadowed completely by the publication of the expense files yesterday, Bill Cockburn, head of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), said he believed parliamentarians were underpaid by "10 per cent to 15 per centâ€.

Until this year, the Commons voted to decide its own pay, but the SSRB has now taken on responsibility for setting increases. Despite pay freezes across the British workforce and even cuts in the private sector, MPs were handed a 2.33 per cent rise in April, taking their annual salary to Â£64,766.

While most of Westminster was pouring over the heavily redacted MPsâ€™ expenses claims which were posted online shortly before 6am yesterday, Mr Cockburn told the Commons Public Administration Committee it would be carrying out a â€œbroaderâ€ review of remuneration after the next general election.

"It is always politically difficult to increase it, but as we have found in the past, in our view MPs' pay is 10 to 15 per cent below what it should be,â€ he said.

â€œThere is a degree of underpayment in our view, but it is difficult to address this under the present arrangements.â€

snip

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6534773.ece

So that's alright then.