McDonnell to consider giving salary increase to charity

John McDonnell has said he and many other MPs will consider giving their 1.8% salary rise to charity.

The shadow chancellor said "a lot of MPs" from different parties look to support causes in their constituency and overseas from their income.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has confirmed the basic salary for MPs is to increase from £76,011 to £77,379 from April 1.

The additional salary paid to House of Commons select committee chairs will also rise by 1.8%, taking pay to £15,509.

The increase is higher than the 1% annual cap imposed on most public sector workers since 2010.

But Ipsa insists it is in line with a commitment made in July 2015 to adjust MPs' pay at the same rate as changes in public sector earnings published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Mr McDonnell, speaking to Sunday With Niall Paterson on Sky News, said: "I use some of my wages for charity and support, and that's what I'll continue to do as well. Whenever I've had a pay rise I've tried to do that and a lot of MPs do that, to be honest.

"That's not a party political point, across the House you'll see a large number of MPs will be looking at how they use their income to actually support things in their constituency and also a lot do a lot on international charities as well.

"I'll be considering that when I get the pay rise."

From April, the salary of MPs will have risen by a total of 17.7% since the introduction of the Government's austerity programme, including public sector pay freezes and caps, in 2010.