• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About TLE
SUPPORT FREE INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Labour’s minimum wage plans are more radical than the Tories – but you wouldn’t think that from the reporting

Our media remains a key weakness in our democracy, but despite this Labour is starting to win the economic debate.

Iwan Doherty by Iwan Doherty
October 1, 2019
in Opinion
Said Javid

The Conservative Party’s pledge to increase the minimum wage dominated the headlines in today’s newspapers.

In a key speech, Savid Javid announced the Conservatives would raise the minimum wage to £10.50, although few reporters seemed to note that this wouldn’t be implemented until 2024.  

In fact, this is hardly an announcement. The government was already on track to deliver this long-term increase in the minimum wage.

But regardless, millions of Brits will now undoubtedly think the Conservatives are offering a higher minimum wage than Labour despite the fact Labour has pledged to reach a £10 per hour minimum wage a full four years before the Tories.

Lax and Lazy

This lax and lazy journalism is becoming the norm for the main outlets in the British press.

No outlet provides the whole picture or a balanced viewpoint. Our press is in desperate need of reform so it can become the vital check and balance on power in politics it should be.

But if there is one silver lining, it is that Labour are starting to win the economic debate surrounding investment in the economy.

RelatedPosts

The Tory manifesto is truly chilling: we must vote tactically to protect democracy itself

The Tories are exploiting Jewish fears over antisemitism

The Conservative Party anti-Semitism crisis nobody talks about

The Conservatives are trying to sneak constitutional reform in by the back door

In 2015 the big issue was reducing the deficit. Now it is how to rejuvenate the economy by injecting much-needed investment.

The minimum wage pledge came alongside more funding for infrastructure and a repeat of the 20,000 extra police officers.

The Conservatives are rolling out spending packages like there’s no tomorrow, signalling that an election may be just around the corner.

Time for a pay rise

However, on the minimum wage it’s not hard to see why the left have won the debate.

Wages in the UK have stagnated dramatically under Tory rule, still languishing below pre-crash levels.

Pay freezes in the public sector alongside a pitiful economic recovery mean working people are crying out for a pay rise.

Without large scale unionisation only a minimum wage hike can increase the distributive justice so lacking from our economy and the present minimum wage isn’t high enough to deliver this.

The Living Wage Foundation say it is currently 80p too low to provide adequately for workers.

Labour want to see it dramatically upped to deliver a new deal for workers and bring wider benefits to the economy.

Widespread economic impacts

Increased wages for low earners who spend a greater proportion of their income than the rich will have widespread economic impacts.

A House of Commons report estimated Labour’s policy of increasing the minimum wage to £10 per hour would give the national economy a £5.6 billion boost, as well as raising the wages of millions of Brits.

Business lobbyists may complain about added pressures to capital but evidence from studies in America show job losses due to raising the minimum wage are negligible.

Countless empirical studies in California have shown no evidence that such a large wage hike would lead to significant job losses or fewer work opportunities.

The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Economist, Economists at University of California all concluded in studies that minimum wage increases did not drive up unemployment.

In fact, a study comparing New Jersey and Pennsylvania restaurant employment after New Jersey had raised its minimum wage concluded that the increase in the minimum wage slightly increased employment in the New Jersey restaurants.

Bank of England

Conservatives like Matt Hancock, former economist at the Bank of England, have long backed increases to the minimum wage.

The current Health secretary has previously stated a minimum wage increase had “no discernible effect on the employment prospects of low-wage workers”, a quote that clearly never filtered down to the right-wing tabloids when they claimed Corbyn’s plan would destroy British entrepreneurship.

The facts on the minimum wage are confidently on the side of Labour and Javid’s minimum wage announcement today and its reporting has shown two things; That our media remains a key weakness in our democracy, but despite this Labour is winning the economic debate.

Support free independent investigative journalismSupport free independent investigative journalismSupport free independent investigative journalism
Iwan Doherty

Iwan Doherty

Founder and Editor of TPN. Columnist at the New Socialist. Political writer specialising in political economics, with a particular interest in co-operatives, socialism and religion. Ideas to iwan.doherty@gmail.com.

Comments 1

  1. Varalesh Schwan says:
    2 months ago

    Your minimum wage it seems is about the same as the federal one here in the USA, ours goes up to $8.70 in Jan. People here say they cant live on this, but dont make much effort to get an education to earn better wages. Arguements for $12 or $15 hike falls on deaf ears, with the same excuses in this article. Rents here, at least in my area are cheap as compared to yours, higher rents on coastal cities are 5 times what it is here. And I know living on an island always costs more, so I get it, People need to step up their education game to be paid more, without it, council housing, if you can even get that would be a luxury.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending
Jeremy Corbyn is the most smeared politician in history

Jeremy Corbyn is the most smeared politician in history

The story of how the Conservatives crippled the country

The British Government has ruined my life

SWNS Pictures of the Year 2015 - One hundred of the most compelling images on the SWNS wire this year as chosen by our picture editors. Refugees from Syria leave Glasgow Airport in five coaches in heavy rain, November 17, 2015, from where they will be dispersed to their new homes within Scotland. See SWNS story SWREFUGEE: The first charter flight carrying Syrian refugees arrived in the UK yesterday (Tues) as part of the Government's resettlement scheme. Around 100 people were transported by plane from refugee camps in the Middle East, travelling from Beirut in Lebanon to Glasgow Airport. Many have been described as vulnerable and some had stayed in camps for up to four years. Landing in Glasgow at 3.30pm yesterday afternoon, the first arrivals were expected to be resettled by local authorities across the country, including Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Lift The Ban petition reveals staggering cost to UK economy of asylum seekers being banned from working

Latest from TLE

National Lottery Results – Wednesday 3rd July 2019

National Lottery Lotto Results – Saturday 7th December 2019

thunder ball results

Thunder Ball Results, Saturday 7th December 2019

BORIS JOHNSON

Fuming Boris Johnson: Constant questions about my dishonesty not my fault

Investigation launched as patient dies waiting to be treated at Midlands hospital

New poll shows Tory lead cut to 6% & Tory majority can be stopped with tactical voting

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

TLE,
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About TLE
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.