More for London, less for everyone else?
A new report suggests decreasing the minimum wage and unemployment benefit in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and northern England so as to give more to London and the south-east. Kenneth Gibson MSP has reacted with outrage.
Written by Alison Prince
Friday, 3 August 2007
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A report commissioned by the Economic Research Council suggests that the all-UK minimum wage should be replaced by a graded allowance that gives more to London and the south east of England. To contribute towards the London increase, the minimum wage paid in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the north of England would be reduced, together with other benefits.
The author of the report, Professor David Smith of the University of Derby, proposes that people living outside the Home Counties should receive lower unemployment benefits and a minimum wage of less than the current £5.39 per hour. Smith contends that the ‘dole culture’ in the less advantaged areas of Great Britain ‘penalises’ those living in London and the Home Counties.
Arran’s MSP Kenneth Gibson responded angrily to the suggestions, saying, “This proposal is absolutely outrageous. The minimum wage is already low enough, and the benefit system as it stands has failed to lift hundreds of thousands of Scots out of poverty. Here in North Ayrshire and Arran, people only earn two thirds of the UK average as it is. To cut both the minimum wage and benefit levels is wholly unacceptable. It would increase the wealth gap between Ayrshire and the pampered South East even further and impose intolerable hardship on many hard-pressed Arran families. It is obscene that this should be contemplated when more than eight billion pounds has been handed out in 'bonuses' to a select group of City financiers this year alone! The Prime Minister must distance himself from this nonsensical idea by rejecting it out of hand immediately and publicly.”
Friday, 3 August 2007
1 view 0 commentsA report commissioned by the Economic Research Council suggests that the all-UK minimum wage should be replaced by a graded allowance that gives more to London and the south east of England. To contribute towards the London increase, the minimum wage paid in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the north of England would be reduced, together with other benefits.
The author of the report, Professor David Smith of the University of Derby, proposes that people living outside the Home Counties should receive lower unemployment benefits and a minimum wage of less than the current £5.39 per hour. Smith contends that the ‘dole culture’ in the less advantaged areas of Great Britain ‘penalises’ those living in London and the Home Counties.
Arran’s MSP Kenneth Gibson responded angrily to the suggestions, saying, “This proposal is absolutely outrageous. The minimum wage is already low enough, and the benefit system as it stands has failed to lift hundreds of thousands of Scots out of poverty. Here in North Ayrshire and Arran, people only earn two thirds of the UK average as it is. To cut both the minimum wage and benefit levels is wholly unacceptable. It would increase the wealth gap between Ayrshire and the pampered South East even further and impose intolerable hardship on many hard-pressed Arran families. It is obscene that this should be contemplated when more than eight billion pounds has been handed out in 'bonuses' to a select group of City financiers this year alone! The Prime Minister must distance himself from this nonsensical idea by rejecting it out of hand immediately and publicly.”
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