MPs, Lords Get Pay Bumps; Benefits Rise; Labour Scraps Cap

0:00On March 30th, this week MPs and lords are caching in on big pay-bumps while benefit claimants see handouts jump amid the cost of living squeeze. MPs get a 5% rise, pushing their base salary to 98,599 pounds, including a 3,000 three, 100-pound cost of living tweak. That hits ministers like here Starmer and chance the Rachel Reeves too. Meanwhile, unelected lords snag a daily tax-free allowance of 390 pounds. Benefit payments for millions rise 6.2%. Double the 3% inflation rate costing 1.9 billion pounds, partly funded by trimming health elements in universal credit. Critics are fired up, calling it a two-tier society where taxpayers foot the bill for politicians and claimants. William Yarwood from the Tax Pairs Alliance says workers are exhausted carrying the load, pushing for frozen benefits and MP pay tie to GDP growth. One MP even

1:00donates his salary to charity, slamming the system as broken. Next week labor scraps the two-child benefit cap handing thousands yearly to nearly 200,000 large families, some over 10,000 pounds extra, even if no one works. That's 3.5 billion pounds a year, as ministers tout it for fighting child poverty. Government points to other aids like energy bill help, more child care, breakfast clubs, minimum wage hikes, and a 4.8% state. Pinch and boost. Still, private sector pay lags at 3.3%, widening the gap as these payouts roll out.