Torsten Bell says Labour manifesto ‘did not set out the timeline’ for changes to living wage after scale of youth unemployment crisis revealed in Milburn report
Tens of thousands of new work experience and training placements from construction to hospitality will be available for young people as part of government efforts to tackle the joblessness crisis, the Press Association reports. PA says:
The 300,000 new placements over the next three years are backed by some of Britain’s biggest employers, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said.
These include Manchester and Gatwick airports, and the government has vowed placements will reach young people across the country.
Labour will also make sure the minimum wage is a genuine living wage. We will change the remit of the independent Low Pay Commission so for the first time it accounts for the cost of living. Labour will also remove the discriminatory age bands, so all adults are entitled to the same minimum wage, delivering a pay rise to hundreds of thousands of workers across the UK.
The manifesto sets out that the we should move the rates together over time. It doesn’t set a timeline on that because that’s the important role of the Low Pay Commission.
No, that’s not what it says in our manifesto, Justin. But it’s an understandable mistake. It’s a long document.
The manifesto commits us to equalising the rates. We’re absolutely committed to doing that. I’ve been a big proponent of the minimum wage over the last 25 years …
We’re going to do it in a way that relies on the Low Pay Commission to provide independent advice on how that can happen, and in general how increases in the minimum wage happen but in a way that doesn’t affect employment levels.
I’ve already said the answer is yes, we’re committed to our manifesto that we stood on and we will deliver it. But that manifesto did not set out the timeline.
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