The Tories are claiming that they will ‘continue increasing the National Living Wage’. However, hidden in the small print of their press release they let it slip that they are planning to water down the existing National Living Wage.
This change would leave the average full-time worker on the National Living Wage £2,283 worse off by 2020.
Earlier in the Parliament, George Osborne announced that the Tories’ so-called National Living Wage (NLW) was to hit £9 per hour by 2020.
To get here the Tories promised that it would reach the level equivalent to “over 60 per cent of median hourly earnings” by 2020.
This week they’ve broken this promise and changed their commitment to increasing the National Living Wage only “in line with median incomes”.
This means that the National Living Wage will be £8.20 in 2020 as opposed to the promise of £9 per hour under Osborne.
In contrast, Labour is committed to a Real Living Wage of £10 per hour by 2020.
Cllr Stephen Morgan, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Portsmouth South, said:
“Working people won’t be fooled by this announcement by the Tories. Hidden in the small print of their national press release is a cut to working people’s incomes.
This is a cynical ploy but it won’t work here in Portsmouth. Labour will always stand up for working people and deliver a better, fairer Britain”.
