Labour’s promise to give younger workers the same minimum wage as older adults faces uncertainty after John Healey declined to confirm that the change would be completed before the next election. Speaking on Sunday, November 1, he maintained that the government intended to deliver the pledge but left its timetable open.
The party’s 2024 manifesto promised to close the minimum wage gap for workers aged 18 to 20. Last week’s budget instead announced a 3.9% increase across the age groups, taking the adult rate to £13.21 and the younger rate to £11.27. A bigger percentage increase for younger employees would have been necessary to move the rates closer together.
Asked about the policy on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Healey said he would “take it one step at a time”. His comments came amid concerns that increasing pay for younger workers could worsen youth unemployment. The pace of change has also drawn criticism from senior Labour MPs. Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, urged the government in June, while outside government, to fulfil its promise.
Healey rejected the suggestion that Labour would abandon the commitment. He pointed to his involvement as a new MP in legislating for the minimum wage when it was introduced in 1998, while stressing the need to weigh higher wages against employment. He said the government wanted businesses and trade unions involved in addressing the situation of a million young people whom he described as lacking prospects of help into work.
The interview also raised questions about public spending. Healey said he was willing to retain cuts set out in the last spending review for the period before the next election, including some exceeding 2% annually. He said the government would carry those plans into its 10-year plan and next year’s spending review, with preparatory work already under way.
Thinktanks, including the Institute for Fiscal Studies, have questioned the government’s approach to reducing the deficit. Their criticism centres on its apparent reliance on unpopular spending reductions that may prove difficult to implement at a politically sensitive point before an election.
In a separate Sunday interview on GB News, chief secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said welfare savings would not come through “crude cuts”. She said proposals would be presented in the new year, followed by legislation intended to reduce the welfare bill fairly and sustainably.
Reynolds challenged claims by the Conservatives and Reform about cutting welfare, arguing that pushing people into crisis transfers costs to other public services. She said the previous Conservative government had not managed such cuts and maintained that Labour’s leadership remained committed to lowering welfare expenditure and taking difficult decisions.
