George Osborne and the red boxBy 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.
