I’m proud that the last Labour government introduced the National Minimum Wage. This boosted pay for millions at the bottom without leading to a loss of jobs and now I can’t imagine a Britain without it.
But the issues we face today are different to those we faced at the end of the last century. The minimum wage was originally designed to prevent extreme low pay and abuse. Today, the challenge is to help people earning above the minimum wage but still living in poverty or dependent on benefits. Over five million people, or one in five employees, are low paid.
This has got worse under the Tories, with families on average £1,600 a year worse off since David Cameron became Prime Minister. And while this Government has given tax cuts to millionaires, the value of the national minimum wage has declined by five per cent since 2010.
Those on the lowest pay are at the sharpest end of the cost-of-living crisis. In-work poverty is a shocking legacy of the Tories’ four years in power and it’s only Labour government that would do something about it.
In September last year Ed Miliband asked Alan Buckle, former Deputy Chairman at KPMG, to investigate how to improve the minimum wage. The report, published today, argues for a new framework to ensure that the minimum wage rises faster over the next five years than it has in the recent past, as part of a national mission to tackle low pay and build a new economy with more high skill, high paid jobs.
The report recommends that the next Labour Government should set an ambitious target to increase the minimum wage, bringing it closer to median earnings over a five-year period. This will ensure that there is a bond between the wealth we earn as a nation and the wages that people earn.
A clear five-year target gives businesses time to plan and adapt their business models so they are able to support higher wages for their employees.
The Tories’ economic policies over the last four years have resulted in higher prices, lower wages and a cost-of-living crisis that has hit tens of thousands of people in Derby. It is only Labour that will create a new economy that works for everyone instead of just a few at the top, and that begins by increasing the National Minimum Wage.
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Thursday 15 May 2014
GUN LICENCE FEES SHOULD PAY FOR HOTLINE TO MONITOR GUN OWNERS
THE debacle over the Prime Minister’s personal intervention to block a rise in gun licence fees continues to rumble on – and taxpayers continue to subsidise wealthy gun owners. Currently the fee is £10 a year – the cost of a few cups of coffee. In an industry where people will regularly pay £1000s for a day’s shooting and champagne that is unacceptable.
The Gun Control Network has been told by Norman Baker, the Minister for Crime Prevention, that the move to full cost recovery has been agreed. But it was agreed by Damien Green his predecessor so whether this Minister will succeed in doing what the previous one failed to do remains to be seen.
The issue now is what the licence fee is supposed to cover and what the real cost is.
Gill Marshall-Andrews Chair of GCN says: “It’s obvious that the licence fee should cover the whole cost of administering a rigorous licensing regime that will keep guns out of the hands of unsuitable people and keep the public safe.
“That means it should cover all administration, checks for mental illness, domestic violence, criminal behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, police court costs where appeals are made, and a hot line for families and neighbours who are concerned about the behaviour of a gun owner.
“The hot line is particularly important because we know there are many people who feel threatened by a gun owning partner or ex partner, or even a neighbour. Going to the police often doesn’t work for these people so a dedicated hot line is what’s urgently needed.
“Guns are lethal weapons and they do great damage in the wrong hands. The real cost of licensing guns is likely to be in the region of £50 a year not £10. It will be money well spent, but it should not be the taxpayers’ money.”
I complained to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, back in February about the Prime Minister’s intervention as I believed Mr Cameron had potentially breached the Ministerial Code. Paragraph 7.1 state: “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
After three reminder letters I eventually received a response from Sir Jeremy last week. He said he was “satisfied that the Prime Minister did not intervene improperly in the decision on firearms licensing fees.” He went on to say the “matter was handled entirely properly through the ministerial clearance process.”
At a time of unprecedented cuts in funding for public services, including the police, there can be no justification for this subsidy to continue.
The Gun Control Network has been told by Norman Baker, the Minister for Crime Prevention, that the move to full cost recovery has been agreed. But it was agreed by Damien Green his predecessor so whether this Minister will succeed in doing what the previous one failed to do remains to be seen.
The issue now is what the licence fee is supposed to cover and what the real cost is.
Gill Marshall-Andrews Chair of GCN says: “It’s obvious that the licence fee should cover the whole cost of administering a rigorous licensing regime that will keep guns out of the hands of unsuitable people and keep the public safe.
“That means it should cover all administration, checks for mental illness, domestic violence, criminal behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, police court costs where appeals are made, and a hot line for families and neighbours who are concerned about the behaviour of a gun owner.
“The hot line is particularly important because we know there are many people who feel threatened by a gun owning partner or ex partner, or even a neighbour. Going to the police often doesn’t work for these people so a dedicated hot line is what’s urgently needed.
“Guns are lethal weapons and they do great damage in the wrong hands. The real cost of licensing guns is likely to be in the region of £50 a year not £10. It will be money well spent, but it should not be the taxpayers’ money.”
I complained to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, back in February about the Prime Minister’s intervention as I believed Mr Cameron had potentially breached the Ministerial Code. Paragraph 7.1 state: “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
After three reminder letters I eventually received a response from Sir Jeremy last week. He said he was “satisfied that the Prime Minister did not intervene improperly in the decision on firearms licensing fees.” He went on to say the “matter was handled entirely properly through the ministerial clearance process.”
At a time of unprecedented cuts in funding for public services, including the police, there can be no justification for this subsidy to continue.
Friday 9 May 2014
MORE WORKING PEOPLE IN DERBY NEED HOUSING BENEFIT TO HELP MEET RENT SINCE THIS GOVT CAME TO POWER
THE Tories talk tough about reducing the benefits bill but the truth is they’ve failed to get to grips with the problem. In fact, their cost-of-living crisis has now left hundreds of working people in Derby relying on housing benefit to help pay their bills.
Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, the number of working people claiming housing benefit in Derby has increased by a staggering 55 per cent.
Working people are now on average £1600 a year worse off as wages have fallen while prices have soared. Many people in work can’t get the hours they need while low-paid and insecure work is forcing more people to rely on housing benefit.
We also face a massive housing shortage in this country yet this government has presided over the lowest level of home building since the 1920s. David Cameron's failure to tackle this shortage means the cost of housing is rising beyond the reach of ordinary working people.
It can’t be right that ordinary people who do the right thing and go to work have to rely on housing benefit. The Tory-led government is either unwilling or unable to do anything about this and David Cameron seems content to let the British taxpayer pick up the bill.
Labour intends to take immediate action to deal with the cost-of-living crisis by freezing gas and electricity bills until 2017 if we win the election. And we’ll make work pay by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax, raising the national minimum wage and ending the abuse of zero-hours contracts.
But you can't deal with the cost-of-living crisis without building more homes. That's why Labour has committed to getting at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. We’ll also reform the private rented sector by banning rip-off letting agent fees for tenants and introducing long-term stable tenancies with predictable rents.
The increased number of working people claiming housing benefit shows you can’t trust the Tories or their Lib Dem collaborators to solve the cost-of-living crisis. Only Labour has the policies and the determination to stand up and make a real difference.
Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, the number of working people claiming housing benefit in Derby has increased by a staggering 55 per cent.
Working people are now on average £1600 a year worse off as wages have fallen while prices have soared. Many people in work can’t get the hours they need while low-paid and insecure work is forcing more people to rely on housing benefit.
We also face a massive housing shortage in this country yet this government has presided over the lowest level of home building since the 1920s. David Cameron's failure to tackle this shortage means the cost of housing is rising beyond the reach of ordinary working people.
It can’t be right that ordinary people who do the right thing and go to work have to rely on housing benefit. The Tory-led government is either unwilling or unable to do anything about this and David Cameron seems content to let the British taxpayer pick up the bill.
Labour intends to take immediate action to deal with the cost-of-living crisis by freezing gas and electricity bills until 2017 if we win the election. And we’ll make work pay by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax, raising the national minimum wage and ending the abuse of zero-hours contracts.
But you can't deal with the cost-of-living crisis without building more homes. That's why Labour has committed to getting at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. We’ll also reform the private rented sector by banning rip-off letting agent fees for tenants and introducing long-term stable tenancies with predictable rents.
The increased number of working people claiming housing benefit shows you can’t trust the Tories or their Lib Dem collaborators to solve the cost-of-living crisis. Only Labour has the policies and the determination to stand up and make a real difference.
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