Anyone in work in the Bradford district today would no doubt think Christmas – and their birthday, and any other cause for celebration you can think of – had come early if they were told they were due to get a pay rise of 11 per cent.

If you happen to be a public sector worker, then your pay rise for this year has likely been capped at one per cent. If you work for the private sector, then it’s quite possible that you haven’t had a pay rise at all... in fact, you might not have had one for some years since the economic downturn began.

But the country is coming out of its economic woes and, coincidentally, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – in essence, the MP’s standards watchdog – has recommended that Members of Parliament are due – after the 2015 general election – a tidy little salary increase of £7,600, bringing their annual wage up to £74,000.

You’d have to be mad to turn down a pay rise like that in these still-straitened times, of course, but the chances are that you’re not a Member of Parliament. And while everyone likes a little something extra in their paypacket if they think they deserve it, it might be that MPs are a little more cautious about accepting such a boost when the rest of the country is still struggling to pay the bills and, in a growing number of cases as evidenced by the increasing reliance on food banks – put dinner on the table.

Already Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has indicated that he would not accept the extra cash while armed forces pay was being pegged back – and suggested Cabinet ministers would agree a united approach.

Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the public would find it “utterly incomprehensible” if Ipsa defied concerted calls from Mr Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg to show restraint.

But some MPs resolutely think that if a pay offer is on the table, they should take it. Charles Walker, Conservative MP for Broxbourne, said he “absolutely” would take the pay rise planned by Ipsa and added: “I’ve been working since I left university for 25 years and I have never turned a pay rise down and I don’t intend to start turning any future pay rises down. Look, I am the Member of Parliament for Broxbourne. They have neither elected a saint or a millionaire. I am a flawed human being, with many flaws, but, I’m afraid, I will accept the pay rise.”

But what of our own Members of Parliament? Since Ipsa first announced in July that it was going to consult on MPs pay – this latest announcement being the results of that consultation – MPs in the Bradford district have had varying opinions, and differing levels of commitment to whether they will or won’t take the pay rise if it is ultimately offered.

David Ward (Lib-Dem, Bradford East) took to the social network Twitter over the weekend to say: “...goes without saying that I’m against rise in MP’s pay - Public sector rise is one per cent, ours should be the same.”

Gerry Sutcliffe (Lab, Bradford South), said: “I’m going to wait to see the full implications of the announcement on Thursday, in relation to pensions. I agree it is very poor timing by IPSA to cause maximum embarrassment for MPs.”

Also on Twitter, George Galloway (Respect, Bradford West) responded to a direct question about the pay rise by saying: “I’m wholly against it.” And a spokesman for him said: “George will decline the rise.”

Philip Davies (Con, Shipley) said: “I fully understand how unacceptable this is to the public. This is something proposed by IPSA, as part of a consultation to come into effect in 2016, and the law was changed back in 2009 to explicitly stop MPs having any role in the setting of their own pay and expenses. This pay proposal is not something that I asked for. I urge my constituents to either make their views known to IPSA directly about this or if they email or write to me I will ensure that all representations are passed on to IPSA, so they can be taken into account as part of their consultation.”

And Kris Hopkins (Con, Keighley) said: “It was made clear to IPSA – an independent body – that the current restrictions on public sector pay should be borne in mind when deciding any future rises in MPs’ pay. It is infuriating that this request has been ignored. As I have said many times before, I am a public sector worker and should not be treated any differently to anyone else. This proposed pay rise is not something I agree with and I will not be accepting it.”

Come 2015, the economy might be in a much different state than it has been in recent years, and perhaps the idea of an MP pay rise won’t be as contentious as it is today. We shall just have to wait and see...

Additional reporting by Rob Merrick