The Labour Party Conference voted for it; Sir Keir Starmer rejected it. The £15 minimum hourly wage was centre stage, even if Labour conference stewards were reportedly being paid rather less.
It’s not clear where the £15 figure came from. It seems to derive from the US Democrat, Bernie Saunders’ campaign for a $15 an hour minimum in the US. But that is actually only £11.17.
At present, the National Minimum Wage is set at 60% of median earnings: £8.91 per hour. Boris Johnson has asked the Low Pay Commission, which sets the rate, to jack it up to 66% of media earnings which should take it to over £10.90 shortly. But it may come sooner than that.
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