Min wage pledge

The Labour Party conference opened today (September 21) with a pledge from leader Ed Miliband – to raise the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to £8 an hour by the end of the next Parliament.
He will tell the conference in Manchester that his Plan for Britain’s Future will rebuild the link between “working hard and sharing in our national wealth.” The planned increase would take the NMW from £6.50 in October this year to £8 by 2020 – a rise of £1.50 an hour for Britain’s lowest paid workers worth £60 a week or £3,000 a year.
Unite has been pressing for an immediate uprate in the NMW of ÂŁ1.50 per hour as a way to combat poverty and reduce the benefits bill.

As for the conference itself, Unite delegates are hoping to speak in many of the debates – bringing the fight for inequality in Britain to the attention of Labour.

This theme is also central to the fringe discussions – especially today’s (September 21) Unite and the Daily Mirror Real Britain fringe, Putting people back into politics, where Unite called for Labour to take on board the fight against austerity and inequality.