We've been put in impossible position over pay rise, say MPs

The independent body set up in the wake of the expenses scandal plans to give MPs a £7,000 a year increase, taking their pay to £74,000.

But MPs in the Black Country and Staffordshire are saying their pay should be based on what the public sector gets or even go up and down in line with the national.

Some are also planning to give it to worthy causes as they will not be allowed to refuse it.

But politicians on both sides of the House of Commons are cautious to avoid criticising those who will take it

Stafford Conservative Jeremy Lefroy said: "We've been put in an impossible position, as has the Prime Minister.

"I think any pay rise should be in line with the public sector or that the pay should go up or down in line with the national average. I don't think I should accept more. If I have no choice but to have the whole increase I will give the difference to charity. But it shouldn't be like this." Labour's MP for Dudley North, Ian Austin, has been saying for more than two years that he thought the increase was wrong and that he also plans to give any extra money to charity.

Long serving Walsall North MP David Winnick declined to say what he was planning to do. But he revealed how in 1996, when MPs pay went up substantially, he had asked how many had refused it and been told it was fewer than 10.

"MPs' pay has always been a controversial subject," he said. "The pay should be reviewed in line with local government, where those in the second tier below a chief executive are often on more than a Member of Parliament. We must not forget for one moment that there are people all over the country on low pay who find it a tremendous struggle to make ends meet. It will be up to MPs to decide what they will do."

Labour leadership contenders Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper have both announced they will not be taking the pay rise. The increase was originally unveiled by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority in 2013 to address complaints that MPs' pay has dropped behind that for other jobs. David Cameron is set to receive the £7,000 pay rise despite previously branding the increase 'unacceptable'.

Downing Street has made clear the Prime Minister will not seek to block Ipsa's proposal – and he will personally get the extra money. It means that, having declared last month that ministerial pay was being frozen for the duration of the parliament, Mr Cameron is in line for an effective five per cent bump in his total remuneration, while Cabinet ministers' overall pay will increase by 5.2 per cent. Mr Cameron's total package will therefore rise from £142,500 to £149,440.

Blocking the rise for rank-and-file MPs would have required a change in the law, and with a slim majority it was far from clear whether Mr Cameron would have been able to carry a vote in the Commons.