“This latest rise in the minimum wage will mean that around 90,000 workers in London will get an increase in their pay from October, the majority of whom are low paid women. It's right that at a time when our economy is generally strong with the longest ever period of sustained growth and nearly 2.4 million more jobs than 1997, that we continue to help those who get paid the least.
“The Commission shares our aim to help the low paid through an increased minimum wage, while making sure that we do not damage their employment prospects by setting it too high. They have concluded that there is no strong evidence to support the contention that the minimum wage has had any detrimental effect on employment levels in low paying sectors.”
He continued:, “Ten years ago David Cameron was campaigning against the minimum wage and predicting it would ‘send unemployment straight back up.’ Yet since its introduction in 1999 the minimum wage has benefited thousands of low paid workers, the vast majority of whom are women. Today’s minimum wage rise shows how Labour has changed Britain for the better since 1997.”