PM could break promise on £10.50 minimum wage

Boris Johnson pledged during the general election campaign to increase the national living wage to £10.50, but the Queen’s Speech guidance released this morning says this will only happen “provided economic conditions allow”.

The Queen’s Speech delivered this morning outlined the agenda for the new Tory government, including a statement on increasing the national living wage that was more vague than had been expected.

The government’s 150-page background briefing document reads: “The Chancellor has pledged that the national living wage will increase, reaching two-thirds of median earnings within five years (projected to be around £10.50 an hour in 2024), provided economic conditions allow.”

The Conservatives pledged to raise the national living wage at their conference this year – prior to the election – claiming to be the “real party of labour”.

But the caveat included in their guidance would allow the government to backtrack on the pledge, which they initially said would benefit four million low-paid workers.

This Queen’s Speech follows the snap winter election in which Boris Johnson’s party won a majority of 80, taking many traditional Labour constituencies or ‘Red Wall’ seats.

The national living wage is a minimum wage – currently £8.21 – for all workers over the age of 25. The document released alongside the Queen’s Speech included the government’s plans to extend the wage to those aged 21 and over.

The Labour Party 2019 manifesto pledged to introduce a £10 minimum wage for everyone in the UK over the age of 16, which would have given approximately 7.5 million people a pay rise.

Labour’s proposal would have disproportionately benefits workers outside London and the Southeast, with around a third of workers in the majority of regions and nations benefiting.

Under Labour’s policy, people on a minimum wage would have seen an immediate pay rise of between £3,444 and £5,986.