Before Tory conference there was a suspicion amongst some hacks that the Tories might throw out a political curveball at their conference and announce a significant increase to the minimum wage.
Unfortunately, instead of doing that, several Tories spent their conference trashing the minimum wage.
The most notable example of this came from controversial London Assembly member James Cleverly, as reported by the Evening Standard:
One of London’s top Conservatives has sparked a row by calling for the minimum wage to be scrapped. James Cleverly, former Tory group leader on the London Assembly, made the call at a conference fringe held by a group devoted to cutting red tape and wasteful spending.
He was immediately denounced by Labour as “out of touch” with Londoners struggling to make ends meet on the £6.31-an-hour minimum rate.
Mr Cleverly was sitting on a panel for a discussion being hosted by the TaxPayers Alliance pressure group and also ConservativeHome on the theme “How can the Government help small business?” TPA chairman Matthew Sinclair ended the discussion with a quickfire round, saying: “I want no explanation or justification, I want you to name a tax or a regulation that you would most like to see scrapped.” When he got to Mr Cleverly the assembly member called out: “Minimum wage.”
Yet it’s not just Cleverly who wants to see the end of the minimum wage. During Cameron’s speech today, Preston Tories tweeted:
Whilst Labour wants to strengthen the minimum wage, it seems the Tories are happy to decrease it in real terms, and many of them are happy with the idea of scrapping it altogether…
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