With today's news about MPs getting ready to vote on their own pay increase, and in light of only 18.5% of respondents in a poll agreeing with an above 1.9% pay rise (in this case 2.56% spread over two stages), I have to ask what would be the most beneficial and least hypocritical for the members to actually vote on.

It is no secret that Gordon Brown wants the salary increase to mirror public sector pay. This is an obvious situation as he knows full well that the credibility of his barely inflationary pay rises for the public sector (let's ignore teachers for the minute, I'm not convinced they're getting any better deal) will come under attack if the MPs are awarding themselves any more than that, especially if it is much more. But what of the other parties? It's no secret that both the Lib Dem's and Tories, as well as some Labour MPs, believe in the process of independent review on salaries, yet some also believe that MPs shouldn't be deciding this and it should be linked to the same factors government uses to decide on salaries, and as such they face a bit of a dilemma.

On the one hand they could go with Gordon, they could make the public happy about government and their ability to not go overboard while their public sector workers are suffering, or at least make it so that the public provide a stay of execution on the matter. On the other they could go with their beliefs, that because they believe that teachers, police and nurses should get what is independently assessed as being correct for them, so should they in an effort to show that they believe in the pay the police and other workers are asking for. The dilemma is that on one hand the public stay as happy as they are currently, and perhaps even feel a little more gracious toward the Labour government, or they could vote for the independent deal and potentially harm their own individual standings in their constituency. The gamble is whether or not the public would look to their local MP in distaste over voting for the higher pay rise (if they'd even check) or if they'd more readily blame a Labour government that is starting to face many questions about the economy in light of the global climate on the subject.

I personally expect it to be close but wouldn't be surprised if the MPs award themselves the higher pay rise. It would be a bloody nose to Gordon Brown who would then have a tougher time of dealing with the police in the short term, as well as the public and their obvious distaste for such an outcome. Yes the government would possibly end up giving the police what they want but they've already done so much damage to themselves on this issue they won't be able to take a positive from it. Gordon brown can only hope that enough of his own MPs do what he pleads.

Update: So it turns out that not vote took place and the parties all agreed to the sub-inflation pay rise. I can't help but feel cynical that on one hand (and publicly) the opposition parties support the police and other public workers, but in practice know that they would have done the same. Or maybe it was just to maintain the public image of parliament