Amanda Martin
Main Page: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)Department Debates - View all Amanda Martin's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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James Murray
Just two weeks ago, I spent a fair amount of time meeting representatives from the National Farmers Union and other representative organisations from different nations within the UK. I listened to their concerns and what they had to say. We have to be honest that we disagree. They do not agree with the Government’s policy, and I need to be direct about that because we had to take a number of difficult decisions at the Budget. But I do not apologise for the importance of balancing the public finances and sticking to our fiscal rules.
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)
Next month will see a rise and an extension to the minimum wage. In Portsmouth North, there are 9,600 minimum wage workers—higher than the national average—leaving many in in-work poverty and in desperate need of a boost to living standards. What steps are the Government taking to help improve living standards for those low-paid workers?
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that a higher minimum wage is an important way that we make low-earning workers’ lives better—as is the extension that we announced to sick pay yesterday, which I hope will be welcomed on all sides of this House.