David Cameron tells ITV News he will take £7000 MPs’ pay rise

But last month Downing Street indicated that Mr Cameron will not seek to block the move – and he will personally accept the money.

A number of MPs, including Ms Cooper and other Labour leadership hopefuls Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall, have said they will not pocket the increase.

Cameron’s reluctance to urge other MPs to reject the pay increase has been seen as an attempt to keep his backbenchers on side with a majority of just 12.

IPSA says the increase is a one-off pay adjustment.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis fumed: “If pay restraint is at an end for politicians, it should also be over for nurses, teaching assistants, hospital cleaners, council staff and other public sector workers”.

The decision will spark a public backlash as public sector workers are being asked to accept a 1% rise for four years. MPs can no longer claim for the costs of hospitality, evening meals, taxis home from Westminster when working late (unless the House sits after 23:00), and home contents insurance. “We have taken a very strong line on austerity and we expect our members to do something socially conscious with it”.

In a statement to the BBC, Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty said: “Sinn Féin MPs do not receive salaries despite securing a sizeable mandate from those who vote for us each election”.

“Ipsa – it’s a bit of a silly organisation really and pay rise?” If you ran a corner shop or worked low-paid shifts, how could you possibly think that the world’s most expensive job interview was worth it when you might not even win your seat?

Sir Ian Kennedy, chairman of IPSA, said that the issue of MPs’ pay was toxic and had been “ducked for decades”.

“He disagrees with their decision today, but it is Ipsa, as an independent body that makes that decision”.

They have already suffered five years of real-terms pay cuts. The watchdog operates a payroll giving scheme that allows them to make donations from their gross salary.

“Ipsa … must work totally free from government influence”. In the report, Mr Stewart, who was one of 30 MPs to respond to the consultation in writing, said: “In my view IPSA was established precisely to take away the responsibility of this sort of decision from the hands of MPs…” This is true of NHS funding, the global aid budget and, of course, MPs’ Pay. And parliament predicted when salaries were introduced that it would be a source of continual public disappointment and anger, as it has been… I fully supported the establishment of Ipsa on that basis. And here’s a suggestion for those MPs feeling their money is better spent by a charitable organisation than by themselves.

A UUP spokesman told the BBC: “IPSA have pressed on with their recommendations despite submissions to the contrary”.

Cooper said on Thursday that the increase was “crazy”.

The pay hike couldn’t have come at a worse time for popular opinion.

MPs cannot actually refuse the pay rise, because it goes into their payslip automatically. “I haven’t changed my mind”.