Covid-19, with thousands losing their jobs as businesses shrink or close altogether, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has picked this moment to award MPs a pay rise.The better-than-inflation pay hike of around £3,500 is, according to the authority, linked to the average rise for public sector staff.IPSA said it would be basing next year’s pay rise on October’s public sector year-on-year three-month growth figure of just over 4 per cent.Richard Lloyd, IPSA’s interim chairman, said: “We carried out a major review of MPs’ pay with consultations in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and technical adjustments in 2018.