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Living Wage announcement given thumbs up in Horsforth

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George Osborne and the red box
By David Mackie The increasing of the minimum wage into a ‘living wage’, announced by George Osborne in today’s Budget, has been tentatively welcomed by people in Horsforth. https://youtu.be/QfV8-7KIrqU   The announcement, saved until the end of Osborne’s speech as his ‘rabbit from the hat’ moment, means that the living wage will rise to £7.20 an hour next year, reaching £9 an hour by 2019. Labour, wrong-footed by the announcement, have been quick to dismiss the new Living Wage as merely a rebranded minimum wage. The key points from the budget are: – Local councils to decide on Sunday trading hours – Personal tax allowance raised to £11,000 from next year – 2% of national income to be spent on defence – £3,000 off national insurance contributions for employers – National ‘living wage’ set to £9 by 2020 – From April 2017 a £1m bequeathment will be free of inheritance tax – BBC are to pick up the cost of free TV licences for over-75s – Public sector pay is to rise 1% a year for four years – Student Maintenance Grants to be abolished and replaced by loans See our live blog of the Budget as it happened here.

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