UK Treasury chief says he'll hike the minimum wage but rules out tax cuts while inflation stays high
Britain’s Treasury chief is announcing a hike in the national minimum wage
MANCHESTER, England — Britain’s Treasury chief is to announce a hike in the national minimum wage on Monday, as the governing Conservative Party tries to persuade voters it is on the side of those who are struggling financially.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has ruled out tax cuts, saying they would fuel inflation.
According to excerpts of Hunt’s speech released in advance by the Conservative Party, he will tell the Conservatives' annual conference that the hourly rate for workers 23 or older will rise in April from 10.42 pounds ($12.70) to at least 11 pounds ($13.40).
The exact amount will be set after a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission, an advisory body.
That will mean a raise for more than 2 million workers.,
Hunt is also to pledge to toughen the rules on social benefits in an attempt to stem the flow of working-age people out of the workforce, a trend that has accelerated since the coronavirus pandemic.
“Those who won’t even look for work do not deserve the same benefits as people trying hard to do the right thing,” Hunt was to say, according to the excerpts.
The party is trying to sprinkle voter-pleasing measures such as the pay increase at the conference, which may be the last before a national election due in 2024. But the government’s spending power is constricted by the U.K.’s sluggish economy and stubbornly high inflation that hit double digits last year and now stands just below 7%.
“I do want us to have lower taxes,” Hunt told Sky News. But he said “it’s very difficult to see” it happening this year.
The right-of-center Tories, in power since 2010, are lagging far behind the center-left opposition Labour Party in
Read more on abcnews.go.com
