ST HELENS MPs, Gerry Bermingham and John Evans were among MPs in the Commons who voted for a 26% pay increase.

St Helens South MP, Gerry Bermingham, has told why he took the decision to defy his party leader and vote for the rise, which will add £17,000 to MPs' salaries.

Mr Bermingham said: "The most important factor in my decision to go along with the review board was that the impetus would no longer be left in the hands of MPs themselves. From now on, the issue of our salary is out of our hands. I would have voted for the board's decision whatever amount it came up with. I can understand people feeling that 26 per cent is a lot but when you consider the fact that our mileage has been drastically reduced from 74p to 47p per mile and other expenses we have to account for, it works out as roughly the same or just a bit more than a three% rise."

Liberal Democrat councillor, John Beirne bitterly attacked the MPs' decision: "It is totally unjustified that they give themselves a rise of 12 times the rate of inflation, while they expect nurses, council employees etc. to accept only three%."

Charlie Leonard, regional organiser for the St Helens branch of the GMB union, added: "It is disgraceful. St Helens local authority has some of the lowest paid employees in this country. In some cases, women working part-time, and cleaners get less that £3 an hour and yet MPs are trying to justify earning that much money."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.