Peter Bottomley says living on £82,000 salary is "really grim"

Conservative MP Peter Bottomley has said that living on a £82,000 salary is "really grim".

The MP for Worthing West told the New Statesman "I take the view that being an MP is the greatest honour you could have, but a general practitioner in politics ought to be paid roughly the same as a general practitioner in medicine.

“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.”

This increase of £18,00 would see a rise in close to 22 per cent on current MP salaries. NHS staff were offered a 3 per cent wage rise which Sajid Javid at the time said would "make a real difference to people's lives. Showing them how much we value and respect their incredible contribution to our nation."

Bottomley's comments come as the government scrapped a £20-a-week uplift in universal credit for those who needed it during the Coronavirus pandemic.