The Chancellor, John Healey, has suggested that younger workers may not get the same minimum wage as adults before the next election. He made the remarks in an interview for the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, a clip of which the BBC published on Saturday 31 October.
"We'll take one step at a time"
That is how he put it, according to a BBC report. Labour pledged in 2024 to remove "discriminatory age bands" and close the gap between the adult rate and the rate for 18 to 20-year-olds.
The Mirror reports that Healey insisted the boost to young people's wages would still happen, but said he wanted to "look hard" at the trade-offs for jobs.
The Budget does not move towards the pledge. All four minimum wage rates rose by the same 3.9%, so the gap between younger and older workers did not narrow. Kemi Badenoch and the Greens have accused the government of breaking the promise. Before the Budget, Jonathan Reynolds said the government had "always been clear it would happen over time".