Osborne’s Minimum Wage move ‘suprising’

The Bevan Foundation’s Director Victoria Winckler has said that George Osborne’s suggestion that the Minimum Wage should increase to £7 an hour by 2015 as ‘surprising’. Speaking on BBC Wales’s weekly ‘Wales at Work‘ programme on 16th January, Victoria said:

‘The headline is great but the acid test is whether the economy is strong enough to afford that level of increase.’

Over a working week it can make quite a difference – people have been so squeezed by inflation that every little bit is welcome. It’s clearly not enough to solve the cost of living problem or eradicate poverty, but who’s going to turn down a pay increase.”