Living Wage

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Kinnock

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kinnock]

Does the Minister recall the dire warnings offered about what would happen to employment with the introduction of the statutory national minimum wage? Does he also recall that in the years since the introduction of that national minimum wage we have reached the highest ever levels of employment in the United Kingdom? Will he rebuff those who now argue, in the same way as they did before, that the introduction of a living wage—which is surely a basic requirement of a civilised society—would result in some form of higher unemployment?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I acknowledge very much what has been done since the national minimum wage was put in place, but the point, again, is that we need to make sure that this is a voluntary proposal because we cannot have small businesses, in particular, put in jeopardy. The Government very much encourage businesses, including contractors supplying services to government departments, to take up the living wage. However, I emphasise that it should be a voluntary structure.