Most MPs work hard, so should they get paid more?

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has recommended increasing MPs' salaries by 9.26% to £74,000 in 2015. Credit: Tim Ireland/PA Wire

Most MPs do work hard.

They put in long hours, they work weekends in their constituencies and they have to split their lives between two places of work.

So should they get paid more than their current salary £66,396?

They used to be criticised for deciding their own rates of pay through votes in the House of Commons, however this matter was subsequently farmed out to an independent body.

That body - IPSA - says pay them more.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has recommended increasing MPs' salaries by 9.26% to £74,000 in 2015. Credit: PA Wire

The proposal is for a salary of £74,000 from 2015, with a cut in allowances.

GPs get paid more, so too some headteachers, with even some local council bosses earning a much bigger wage.

GPs and some headteachers get paid more than MPs. Credit: ITV News

We can debate the merits of MPs' work, we can debate their worth but this is not a debate that sits very comfortably at a time when millions of people are facing pay cuts, pay freezes or small increases less than the rate of inflation, just to keep their jobs.

And for that reason, MPs will want to kick this one into the longest patch of grass they can find close to Parliament.