Sir .Prize posted on this earlier, so i am reposting to his for completeness
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1244095.htm
@ ABEd. MPs pay used to be linked to civil servants pay rises, until IPSA was formed in the wake of the expenses scandal.
From a recent Guardian article;
"lMPs' pay was linked to grade six in the civil service (grade one is top). But then grade sixes were held back to stop the embarrassment of MPs' pay rising. Jonathan Baume of the FDA civil servants union would raise MPs to the old grade five, up to £85,000 and then abolish all personal expenses except travel. Professor Vernon Bogdanor blames Margaret Thatcher for giving the nod to using allowances as pay instead of a rise – leading to duck islands and moats. He would abolish second London homes and put MPs into a decent state-owned block of flats to stop property speculation on expenses."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/03/what-should-we-pay-mps
Personally, I remain unconvinced they are actually worth any more - and if they are awarded a pay rise, then their expenses and allowances should most definitely be reviewed and curtailed....