Labour pledge to raise minimum wage to £10 an hour

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a children's cookery session in Leyland, Lancashire.
PA
Francesca Gillett10 April 2017
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Labour has promised to raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour if the party is elected in the 2020 general election.

Nearly six million workers will get a pay rise within months if voters elect Labour to power at the next election, leader Jeremy Corbyn will say today.

The Labour leader is aiming to win voters’ support with the policy ahead of local polls next month.

Employees on basic income will see their salary jump by thousands compared to the Government’s current national living wage rate.

Leader Mr Corbyn is expected to say today while on a visit to Luton: “Low pay blights the lives of huge and growing numbers in our country and fuels widening inequality.

Jeremy Corbyn MP poses for a photo with local Labour candidate Gail Hodson ahead of local elections in Leyland.
Getty Images

"The government's re-branding of the minimum wage to the national living wage hasn't dealt with the real problems of low pay and rising cost of living.

"That's why Labour will raise the legal minimum wage for all to at least £10 an hour by 2020, giving more than five and a half million people a pay rise in the process.”

He claims that Labour’s “real living wage” will help more than 20 per cent of the workforce employed in sectors like retail, care and hospitality.

Mr Corbyn will add: "We know that where work pays, living standards rise and reliance on benefits falls.

"This is the right thing to do and a Labour government will be committed to re-balancing our economy so that no one and no community is left behind."

The policy would leave full-time employees on basic earnings better off by more than £2,500 while 21 to 24-year-olds on lower wage rates would be in line for a £4,500 hike.

Today’s announcement comes as the Government raised the national living wage for workers aged over 25 from £7.20 to £7.50 an hour on April 1.

The rate is expected to rise to a minimum of £9 an hour by 2020.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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