Members of the UK Parliament receive a daily attendance allowance “on top of” their salary.
This is not true. Generally MPs are paid a salary and members of the Lords are entitled to receive an attendance allowance. Neither group receives both.
Multiple posts on Facebook appear to suggest that both MPs and members of the House of Lords receive money for attending Parliament on top of their salaries.
One of the posts says: “£380 a day just for attending on top of their £90,000 salary plus expenses...and a fillet steak in their restaurant for £3...”
The posts are accompanied by pictures of members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons apparently asleep on the benches inside their respective chambers, alongside a caption implying they are being paid “for doing nothing”.
The figures given for salaries and allowances are broadly correct, but the posts mistakenly imply that UK parliamentarians receive both. They don’t—most receive either one or the other, depending on which House they are a member of.
False or misleading claims about politicians have the potential to affect people’s opinions of individuals, parties or how they choose to vote. We often see these types of claims spread widely online.
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Since 1 April 2025, the basic annual salary paid to an MP is £93,904. MPs are also entitled to expenses to cover the costs of employing staff and running their constituency offices, as well as some housing and travel costs.
A few members of the House of Lords are also paid salaries, if they are ministers or hold certain offices, but the vast majority are not. Those who are not paid salaries are instead entitled to receive an attendance allowance for each day they sit in the chamber, or carry out other parliamentary work.
This attendance allowance can be claimed at a rate of £361 per day, though some members choose not to make any claim at all, or claim a lower daily rate of £180.
The posts also suggest that fillet steak is available at the restaurants in the Houses of Parliament for just £3. This doesn’t appear to be the case at present.
There are several catering outlets and venues within the Parliamentary Estate, and the services and prices offered vary. In the case of the House of Commons, many of these services are available to the 650 MPs, but also to around 14,500 other parliamentary pass holders such as MPs’ staff, House staff, civil servants, contractors, members of the Lords, the press and a “large number” of non-pass holding visitors.
Meals in some outlets are available at prices that are significantly lower than in commercial restaurants. We have written about this before.
We’ve not been able to find fillet steak available for £3 on these venues’ recent sample menus. In the summer of 2024, sirloin steak with French fries was available at the Adjournment restaurant for £18.15.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because generally MPs are paid salaries and members of the House of Lords are entitled to attendance allowances, but none of them receive both.
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