Labour seeks business support for faster increases in the minimum wage

With Labour conference next week, a letter has gone out to business people from Alan Buckle, the senior accountant who Ed Miliband appointed to look at how to boost the minimum wage, asking them to sign an open letter ‘calling for the minimum wage to rise faster in the years to come than it has in the recent past.’. Patrick Wintour reports that the chief executives of Kingfisher and Nomura are among those who have signed. This letter appears to be a prelude to a conference commitment to a further above inflation increase in the minimum wage.

Buckle writes,

‘I hope you don’t mind me contacting you out of the blue. I’m getting in touch to see whether you would be interested in supporting an open letter from business leaders on the issue of low pay.

In preparation for our two separate reports into how to tackle the problem of low pay earlier this year, Sir George Bain and I came to the conclusion that the time has come for measures to strengthen the minimum wage.