EAST Renfrewshire's MP is set to receive a bumper 2.7 per cent pay rise, taking their basic salary for 2019/20 from £77,379 to £79,468. 

The £2,089 hike, effective from April 1, is well above the current inflation rate of 1.8% on the main CPI measure.

It follows a 1.8% boost to MPs' pay last year, 1.4% in 2017, 1.3% in 2016 and a big increase from £67,000 to £74,000 in July 2015.

Paul Masterton and his fellow MPs had no say in the decision as it is passed automatically in Parliament. 

MPs' pay is linked to average rises in the public sector, as determined by the Office for National Statistics.

The 2.7% figure was announced by the ONS on an interim basis in December and confirmed to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which made the final announcement.

Paul Masterton MP told the Barrhead News that MPs' pay is set by an independent body, adding that he and over 100 other MPs' are hoping to see a wage rise for their staff.

He said: “MPs pay is set by a wholly independent body, and not something over which Government or Parliament has control.

"Of real concern is that the proposed rise for MPs is not matched by an increase in our staffing budget, limiting our ability to raise the salaries of our extremely hardworking staff. This is completely unfair and doesn’t recognise the role our staff do supporting constituents every day. 

"That’s why I have joined with over 100 MPs from all parties calling on IPSA to look again at this, so that we can give our staff the pay awards they deserve for the work that they do, for us and our communities.“

TaxPayers' Alliance grassroots campaign manager Harry Fone said: "A lot of taxpayers are going to be annoyed by this announcement.

"In the private sector, pay rises and bonuses are rewarded based on performance, not for just turning up. Ipsa are once again out of touch with the public."

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: "It is an outrage that MPs are rewarding themselves with an above- inflation pay rise while civil servants, who do some of the most vital jobs in society, are still subject to a cruel 1% de-facto pay cap.

"PCS are balloting 120,000 members for strike action over pay this summer and today's news will only anger them further."