MPs demand an extra £5m - to answer e-mails

MPs demanding inflation-busting pay rises are now pushing for an extra £5million to help them cope with answering emails and dealing with constituents.

And in another astonishing move, The Mail on Sunday has also learned that some Labour politicians want to set up an MPs' trade union to defend their rights and get the best deal.

The idea has already been ridiculed by Tory critics who say the new union could be known as the National Union for Members of Parliament - or "Numpties" for short.

MPs will this week vote on controversial proposals to give themselves a backdated 2.56 per cent pay rise outstripping the 1.9 per cent offered to police and nurses.

But the Senior Salaries Review Body, which makes recommendations for MPs' pay, has also bowed to pressure from some politicians and called for millions of pounds of extra spending on staff allowances to help MPs cope with more emails and constituency casework.

"MPs are now more accessible and can be contacted by email at any hour.

"With this form of communication comes the expectation of a fast response," says the review body.

David Maclean, a former Tory Chief Whip, submitted evidence saying:

"Emails and websites are increasing exponentially with a large number of non-parliamentary websites encouraging people to fax their MP, email their MP - and we are constantly being asked to write letters or articles for blog sites."

As a result, the review body has proposed that the amount MPs can claim for staff should rise from £90,505, which all members now get, to £96,630 for MPs who employ staff outside London and £102,650 for those in the capital.

The proposals would cost a total of £5million.

The idea was immediately condemned by Philip Hollobone, the Tory last year revealed as the least-expensive MP, who said he uses only £400 of his current staff allowance.

Mr Hollobone, MP for Kettering, told The Mail on Sunday: "There is absolutely no reason why MPs' costs should go up. The budget is already over-generous."

Meanwhile, the idea for MPs to set up their own union to hammer out pay deals and protect their interests was put forward by Ronnie Campbell, the Labour MP for Blyth Valley.

He told The Mail on Sunday: "We have to get a trade union - we haven't got anybody."

The MP, a lifelong member of the National Union Of Mineworkers, added: "If the management came along and said, 'I am going to take things off youî, I would be first on the picket line."

But David Davies, Tory MP for Monmouth, joked that if MPs went on strike, "the whole country would clap and cheer, and be quite happy for us to stay out for the next couple of decades".