Glasgow politicians have branded a Tory grandee’s claim MPs should be paid more as ridiculous and out of touch.

Instead, they said if politicians deserve a pay rise, it’s councillors.

Tory MP, Peter Bottomley,an MP since 1975 said this week £80K was not enough and MPs should be paid more.

He said some MPs were finding it “desperately difficult” adding “I don’t know how they manage. It’s really grim.”

He said that should be earning around £30,000 more.

Bottomley said: “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.”

In Scotland there are big differences between what MPs, MSPs and Councillors are paid.

MPs receive the highest salary of the three tiers of elected representatives.

They earn more than two and a half times the average annual salary in Scotland.

The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2020 is £81,932 compared to the average annual pay for a full time employee in Scotland of £31,605.

Currently, the salary for an MSP is £64,470 per year. Government ministers and cabinet secretaries get paid more taking them up to just under 95,000 and £112,000 , with the First Minister earning £157,861.

Councillors are the lowest paid of the three. In Scotland the basic annual pay for councillors from 1 April 2021 is £18,604.

There are a number of additional payments for party group leaders and council leaders. Conveners, in charge of specific policy areas also get more money and those who represent the council on external bodies, like SPT, are also paid additional allowances.

John Mason, SNP MSP for Shettleston has been a councillor, MP and MSP in Glasgow.

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He said: “Peter Bottomley’s comments were ridiculous. MPs are very well paid, MSPs are well paid too compared to the average person.

“For what we are expecting them to do, councillors, especially in a city like Glasgow, where it is virtually a full-time job, are not paid enough to do the job.

“I know it’s not popular to pay politicians more money but councillors should be paid more.”

Paul Sweeney, Labour MSP was a Glasgow MP between 2017 and 2019.

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He said: “Bottomleys’ typify just how out of touch Tory MPs are with the lived reality of most people.

“It’s offensive to preoccupy themselves with their own pay on the day their multi millionaire chancellor cut universal credit for 6 m people across Britain, including more than 83,000 families in Glasgow.

An MP earns nearly three times the average salary, so a bit more humility is the least we can expect from them

“The salary for being an MP is more than adequate and ensures that people from all walks of life, not just the privately wealthy, can stand for election to parliament

“Councillors are the poor relations in this and should be paid more, then it might not be treated as a hobby by some well off retired people.”