At £65,738 a year, UK MPs feel underpaid

Members of India's deeply divisive Parliament are notorious for always uniting on one issue – when it comes to voting themselves a hike in salary and perks, and there isalways a unanimous 'aye'.

Now, a survey this week in Britain – the 'Mother of Parliaments' – shows that its MPs are not much less greedy.

They cannot of course blithely vote themselves pay hikes like their Indian counterparts; but a survey by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), a Westminster watchdog, showed that seven in 10 MPs said they were underpaid on £65,738 (Rs58 lakh) a year – apart from perks.

On average, the MPs said they deserved salaries of £86,250 - a 32 per cent rise.

Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen on Thursday evening created more shock waves by insisting that the "vast majority" of the public did not consider £65,000 a year "a lot of money" - even though it is more than double the average wage.

IPSA said one in five MPs thought they deserved at least £95,000 a year. More than a third thought they should keep generous final salary pensions.