UK watchdog set to propose parliamentary pay raise

LONDON (AP) -- An independent watchdog is set to propose an 11 percent pay rise for British members of parliament despite a cap on public sector salaries.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is expected to announce Thursday recommendations to increase MPs' salaries to around 75,000 pounds ($113,000).

IPSA chairman Ian Kennedy last week warned that avoiding an increase in salaries could lead to an expenses spending scandal similar in scale to the one that erupted in 2009 during the previous parliamentary term.

Any sizable rise would contrast with what employees in the public sector, such as doctors and teachers, have been handed in recent years as part of the government's austerity measures — pay freezes have been commonplace.

British lawmakers currently receive 66,000 pounds ($99,000), less than many of their peers.