Healey signals delay to equal minimum wage for younger workers
The chancellor, John Healey, has declined to promise that 18 to 20-year-olds will receive the full adult minimum wage before the next election, putting a Labour manifesto pledge in doubt. “We’ll take one step at a time,” he said. From this year the younger rate rises to £11.27 an hour against £13.21 for over-20s.
Labour promised in 2024 to remove “discriminatory age bands”. Healey insists the commitment stands — “There is no question about whether or if, it’s a question of when” — but says he must weigh “those trade-offs that are there between jobs and wages”, calling a million young people out of work “a moral shame on this nation”. The hesitation is likely to anger the unions and parts of the Labour left. He also indicated willingness to make real-terms cuts to some departments to get debt falling, plans the Institute for Fiscal Studies questioned this week. Combined with a possible rate rise on Thursday, the week tests Burnham’s government on its economic credibility.