A CONSERVATIVE MP has not received the support he may have expected after suggesting his £81k salary could be raised - on the day a £20 uplift was removed from Universal Credit claimants.

The long-standing MP, Sir Peter Bottomley has prompted significant backlash nationally after his comments suggesting the salary was "desperately difficult" emerged on Wednesday.

MPs are paid an annual salary of £81,932 and Bottomley, the MP for Worthing West, thinks that this should be increased to the same amount as a GP of £100,700 - and more than three times the average salary in the North East.

Read more: Foodbank usage set to soar in the North East after £20 Universal Credit cut

It comes as Universal Credit has been cut by £1,040 for millions across the UK after the benefit cut came into effect on October 6, which has separately prompted huge resistance in the region.

The Northern Echo: Picture: PARLIAMENT Picture: PARLIAMENT

In an interview with the New Statesman in which Bottomley said he's still an MP because "I’m still alive and people vote for me", he claimed that being an MP is the "greatest honour you could have", adding "but a general practitioner in politics ought to be paid roughly the same as a general practitioner in medicine".

He continued: “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.”

Read more: County Durham residents react after Universal Credit £20 cut

While the Father of the House no longer suffers financial pressures himself, he claimed that it is "desperately difficult" for his new colleagues, adding: "I don’t know how they manage. It’s really grim.”

According to The National Scotland, the SNP have branded the call for higher MP salaries as "disgusting."

A spokesperson for the party said: "This shows just how out-of-touch the Tories are with reality.

"Millions have just had their incomes slashed by £1,040 overnight and we have Tory MPs calling for higher salaries at the very same time because 'living on £81k a year can be really grim'.

"It's disgusting - and it shows exactly why Scotland needs independence."

The MP's comments are also unlikely to achieve much support among some claimants in County Durham, who have reacted to the scrapping of the uplift.

The Northern Echo:

'It’s really hard times'

Mr Greenall quit his job at the start of the pandemic after a breakdown, but has since re-entered employment as he “couldn’t survive” on the basic benefits package.

He told The Northern Echo: “A lot of people say that those on Universal Credit are scroungers but we’re not. I work very hard and I’m only scraping the barrel with minimum wage.

“The only way I can get more money is by doing more hours, but the work is physically that hard that I would make myself ill by doing more.”

MPs were in line for a pay rise of £3000 in October last year but the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority - which sets MPs' salaries - said that would be "inconsistent" and "would not reflect the reality that many constituents are facing" amid the coronavirus pandemic when many were unable to work and on furlough.

The IPSA formula for MPs' pay is linked to any increase in average pay for public sector workers, with millions having had their pay frozen with overall wages falling last year.

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