Lord Haskel
Main Page: Lord Haskel (Labour - Life peer)
Lord Haskel
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on British business of the new minimum wage when it comes into effect in 2016.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, the Government believe that the new national living wage is affordable, given the strength of the UK economy and labour market. We created 2 million jobs in the last Parliament and the OBR has forecast another 1.1 million by 2020. The Low Pay Commission will continue to play a critical role in setting the path for the national living wage to achieve a rate of 60% of median earnings by 2020, as recommended by Professor Sir George Bain.
Lord Haskel (Lab)
My Lords, while welcoming the increase in the minimum wage, noble Lords will notice that the increase is much greater than the usual rise that results from rigorous and careful analysis by the Low Pay Commission, which studies the different regions and the different sectors of industry. What studies have the Government done as to the effect on jobs and the economy of their proposed increase, or are we witnessing yet another example of the Government’s irresponsible politicisation of pay and the minimum wage?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the whole policy of this Government is to create the right environment for businesses to succeed and to create more jobs. In the previous Parliament, the main rate of corporation tax was cut from 28% to 20%. In this Parliament, the Government will go further and cut the rate of corporation tax to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020. These cuts will benefit over 1 million businesses. They will save businesses £6.6 billion by 2021 and give the UK the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20, supporting investment, productivity and growth.