Labour would raise UK minimum wage to £8 if elected
40 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29299230[/url]
[quote]The minimum wage would rise to £8 an hour over the course of the next parliament if Labour wins the general election, the party has pledged.
Leader Ed Miliband said it was "not good enough" that one in five people in the UK were on low pay.
But the Conservatives said they had already delivered an above-inflation increase as, from October, the minimum wage will rise from £6.31 to £6.50.
The minimum wage for adult workers was £5.80 at the time of the last election.
Chancellor George Osborne suggested, in an interview with BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson in January, that the minimum wage would rise to £7 an hour in 2015 to return the level it was at before the economic downturn.[/quote]
£8 is about right. Were still paying inflated prices when we're 'officially' out of the recession.
Hmm, as much as that would be great, i do wonder if they would -actually- do it....
I think when they pledge somthing it should be a legal document and they should be fined for anything they don't actually carry out.
Then there would be a deafening silence from westminster forever more.
It has to be done, minimum wage as it is now is simply not enough to live on. The fact that it's becoming a normal thing for people to work more than one job in the UK just to get by is absolutely disgraceful.
[QUOTE=Fr3ddi3;46038418]£8 is about right. Were still paying inflated prices when we're 'officially' out of the recession.[/QUOTE]
We're in the same position here.. prices are through the roof.
[QUOTE=Bradyns;46038472]We're in the same position here.. prices are through the roof.[/QUOTE]
Get out of the cities. Move to a rural town and you can work 30 hours every week while earning below the 21 year old and over minimum wage (less than $17 per hour) and still be able to pay rent for your unit, have cafe style toast for breakfast, pay off an iPhone on a contract and put premium fuel in your car while having a bit of money left over to put in savings every week.
[QUOTE=theenemy;46038469]It has to be done, minimum wage as it is now is simply not enough to live on. The fact that it's becoming a normal thing for people to work more than one job in the UK just to get by is absolutely disgraceful.[/QUOTE]
Here in Australia minimum wage is $18 and many young people still need two jobs.
Snip
[QUOTE=Antdawg;46038496]Get out of the cities. Move to a rural town and you can work 30 hours every week while earning below the 21 year old and over minimum wage (less than $17 per hour) and still be able to pay rent for your unit, have cafe style toast for breakfast, pay off an iPhone on a contract and put premium fuel in your car while having a bit of money left over to put in savings every week.[/QUOTE]
I wish the UK was the same,over here your best bet is to move to a city because you'll actually get hours and above minimum wage pay.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;46038496]Get out of the cities. Move to a rural town and you can work 30 hours every week while earning below the 21 year old and over minimum wage (less than $17 per hour) and still be able to pay rent for your unit, have cafe style toast for breakfast, pay off an iPhone on a contract and put premium fuel in your car while having a bit of money left over to put in savings every week.[/QUOTE]
I was actually considering farmwork at one point except I have no clue what that work actually involves.
[QUOTE=download;46038504]Here in Australia minimum wage is $18 and many young people still need two jobs.[/QUOTE]
People need two jobs not because they don't pay enough, but because underemployment is epidemic.
[editline]21st September 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=download;46038510]I was actually considering farmwork at one point except I have no clue what that work actually involves.[/QUOTE]
I work at a supermarket. You don't need to work at a farm.
Labour please stop this pre election drivel.
Optimistic 100% about this.
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;46038523]Labour please stop this pre election drivel.
Optimistic 100% about this.[/QUOTE]
Newsflash: Politicians make promises. Sometimes, they actually intend to deliver on them.
What a populist policy, sure it sounds like a decent rise but in reality they're just raising it inline with inflation, so that in practice very little will change, while at the same time it might force small businesses to employ fewer people and actually potentially more harm to the economy and employment levels. Sure at the moment lots of people are struggling and and that sucks but surely it's more important to tackle unemployment and inflation first so that you can at least get people into work then deal with raising the minimum wage.
I honestly think prices will simply be raised if something like this happens. Not to mention I'd feel fucked over if people doing more basic jobs got paid closer to my wage and nothing changed elsewhere.
And then companies will just put their prices up because they know everyone can afford to spend more on their product and because they need to find an extra £3 for their employees because Labour just randomly and unsustainably put the minimum wage up.
[QUOTE=Midas22;46038574]And then companies will just put their prices up because they know everyone can afford to spend more on their product now because Labour just randomly and unsustainably put the minimum wage up.[/QUOTE]
Prices go up over time anyways, that's inflation and all sane economists believe small amounts of inflation are necessary. What's the alternative? Not have wages increase so that the real value of every paycheck over time just becomes lower and lower until more and more people enter poverty?
election promises and manifestos should be legally binding as much as possible
e.g. Labour should actually try to get this passed in the Commons instead of going back on it and/or forgetting it otherwise, if they don't try to solve one issue there should be a fine imposed, if they don't try to solve any issues a motion of no confidence should be enacted
basically parties should actually try and implement what's on their manifesto and what they've 'promised' first
obviously nothing has to be successful but it helps if they try
[QUOTE=Antdawg;46038585]Prices go up over time anyways, that's inflation and all sane economists believe small amounts of inflation are necessary. What's the alternative? Not have wages increase so that the real value of every paycheck over time just becomes lower and lower until more and more people enter poverty?[/QUOTE]
Couldn't happen. All that'd happen is stores would go out of business, because no one could afford it. It's not all about the general public, it's about the commercial side too. One can't survive without the other.
[QUOTE=voltlight;46038620]Couldn't happen. All that'd happen is stores would go out of business, because no one could afford it. It's not all about the general public, it's about the commercial side too. One can't survive without the other.[/QUOTE]
It could happen. You know how? If nominal wages remain constant meaning that real wages will fall, demand will fall and a supply surplus will come into effect, leading to a glut which will lead to economic depression. No actor in an economy is completely logical. If businesses were logical with regards to long-term macroeconomic stability, they would increase the wages of their employees parallel with inflation. Except, of course, all actors are selfish and illogical.
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;46038523]Labour please stop this pre election drivel.
Optimistic 100% about this.[/QUOTE]
Do you want politicians to just not talk about their plans
Seems a bit funny they would release this bit of information the day after Ed Milliband refuses to sign the plan for devolution of more powers to Scotland. A way to try and gain a bit more confidence they probably lost in the North?
[QUOTE=ravingzombie1;46038816]Seems a bit funny they would release this bit of information the day after Ed Milliband refuses to sign the plan for devolution of more powers to Scotland. A way to try and gain a bit more confidence they probably lost in the North?[/QUOTE]
Miliband hasn't refused to sign anything as far as I know, he [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29300084]still supports Gordon Brown's timetable[/url] for further Scottish powers but he's disagreed with Cameron's move to tie Scottish devolution to corresponding changes in England.
Also they're releasing this info because it's the Labour Conference at the moment. In a weeks' time it will be the Conservatives Conference and there will be lots of bits of info being released by them.
[QUOTE=nuttyboffin;46038428]Hmm, as much as that would be great, i do wonder if they would -actually- do it....
I think when they pledge somthing it should be a legal document and they should be fined for anything they don't actually carry out.[/QUOTE]
Nick Clegg would be so fucking skint
Labour *claims* they would raise UK minimum wage to £8 if elected
A higher National Minimum Wage doesn't make any difference if you have no hours or can't even get work at all.
A National Minimum Income/Unconditional Basic Income/Basic Income would help a lot more people and make more sense. The means testing bureaucracies must be dismantled.
[QUOTE=JustExtreme;46038910]A higher National Minimum Wage doesn't make any difference if you have no hours or can't even get work at all.
A National Minimum Income/Unconditional Basic Income/Basic Income would help a lot more people and make more sense. The means testing bureaucracies must be dismantled.[/QUOTE]
Or the money that would go into that could otherwise be invested in programs to create jobs and transition people back into the workforce eg training programs, infrastructure projects or new positions in community service. The problem with basic income is that it ignores the issue that unemployed/underemployed people don't just need money, but they actually have a psychological need to work (eg so they can feel like they are doing something meaningful with their life/occupy time otherwise spent doing nothing/not be seen as a bludger by society).
[QUOTE=smurfy;46038794]Do you want politicians to just not talk about their plans[/QUOTE]
I'd rather they did them instead of just talk trash and not do it come crunch time.
Nothing is legally binding from what I know so it's all just pipe dreams
this is painfully pathetic.
they'd raise the tax and we'd be back to square one.
I say reset the government and start by electing telephone boxes.
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