The Labour Party would introduce a minimum wage that takes into account the real cost of living if it were to gain power at the next general election.
On the first two days of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, both shadow deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said a Labour government would introduce a “genuine living wage” in place of the national minimum wage.
Rayner said: “With a genuine living wage that working people can actually live on. We will change the Low Pay Commission’s remit so that the minimum wage will for the first time take account of the cost of living.”
Living wage
National living wage to exceed £11 in 2024
Remaining with same employer can ‘trap’ low-paid in underpayment
Reeves said: “Economic responsibility does not detract from advances for working people. It is the foundation upon which progress is built.
“It was the last Labour government which finally delivered on the promise of Keir Hardie to implement a national minimum wage. The fight against poverty pay has been at the heart of our movement from the beginning.
“And so the next Labour government will go further. Not a rebrand of the minimum wage, like the Tories; a minimum wage taking account of the real cost of living and finally we will have a genuine living wage.”
What is often referred to as the ‘real’ Living Wage, which is set independently by the Living Wage Foundation based on the cost of living for low-paid workers, currently stands at £10.90 per hour outside London, and £11.95 in the capital.
Labour also reiterated the party’s promise to automatically offer all workers basic employment rights regardless of their employment status, end ‘fire and rehire’ practices, ban the use of zero-hour contracts, make work more family-friendly, tackle sexual harassment and boost collective bargaining rights.
The party also plans to do more to tackle the gender pay gap, and Reeves said former TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has been asked how to examine how a Labour government could “go further and faster” to end the gap.
Reeves, who hopes to become the UK’s first female Chancellor of the Exchequer, said the party would aim to restore investment as a share of GDP to the level it was under the last Labour government.
She said: “It is investment that allows businesses to expand, create jobs, and compete with international rivals, with new plants, factories and research labs coming to Britain – not Germany, France or America.
“But today, we lag well behind our peers for private sector investment as a share of GDP, with tens of billions of pounds less spent on new machinery and infrastructure.”
She said a Labour government would provide catalytic investment for businesses through a new National Wealth Fund to help businesses create jobs and grow.
Labour’s shadow women and equalities minister also announced the party’s plans for a Race Equality Act and mandatory disability pay gap reporting.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
