Cash plea from MPs after Labour National Insurance tax hike
MPs stand accused of hypocrisy for demanding more cash to offset Labour’s tax rises.
Their union allies are calling for extra money for politicians to pay staff, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
The move comes after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a hike in Employers’ National Insurance from April.
A source said: “It’s a bit rich MPs feel they should have special treatment when charities are looking at letting people go because they can’t afford it.”
Care homes and hospices have warned the hikes could force them to close.
And 70 companies including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Next have warned shops will shut as a result.
Sources said union Unite were leading the charge for Labour MPs while Tory offices were lobbying via a staff association called MAPSA.
In one parliament WhatsApp group, a member of staff for a Tory MP said: “I’m hoping for an uplift to reflect [the] increase in Employers’ National Insurance (otherwise we can’t give any staff raises at all).”
London MPs get £268,550 each year for staff pay and outside the capital they get £250,820. They usually employ around three to five staff.
Sources say Ipsa, which regulates MP business costs, will take the NICs hike into account for new budgets around March.
TaxPayers’ Alliance chief John O’Connell said: “The sheer brass neck of parliamentarians will infuriate taxpayers.
“If politicians are going to force businesses and workers to tighten their belts, they should be told to tighten theirs.”
Hiking the employer rate of NICs to 15 per cent and lowering the tax-free threshold to £5,000 was the biggest revenue-raiser in the Chancellor’s Budget last month.
NHS and the rest of the public sector are exempt from the tax rise.
An Ipsa spokesperson said: “Ipsa reviews staff pay every year and decides on a cost-of-living increase which is payable to MPs’ staff, based on comparable work across the public sector.”