Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tory Conference: Boris Johnson calls for a rise in the minimum wage

He said people 'deserve' more than a rise to £9 by 2020

Joe Watts
Politics Home
Saturday 30 September 2017 09:42 BST
Comments
Boris Johnson has called for a faster rising minimum wage ahead of Tory conference
Boris Johnson has called for a faster rising minimum wage ahead of Tory conference

Boris Johnson has called for a rise in the minimum wage, straying beyond the boundaries of his Foreign Office brief ahead of Conservative conference.

The Foreign Secretary said the existing £7.50 an hour level - set to rise to £9 by 2020 - is "not enough" and that people deserved more.

He also waded into the row over public sector pay, saying the UK could fund a rise for some workers by making others redundant, so reducing the overall number of civil servants to make savings.

It is the latest high profile intervention from the Foreign Secretary, who has been accused of jockeying for position to launch a leadership bid in recent weeks.

In an interview with The Sun he said: "I want people to be paid more.

"People get up unbelievably early and they work unbelievably hard, they deserve to be properly paid."

With unions threatening to strike over public sector pay, Mr Johnson suggested you could increase the wages of one group of people by laying other people off.

He said: "You can pay people more, but shrink your wages bill."

Boris blasted over Brexit blueprint

It comes after Mr Johnson also used his interview with The Sun to clearly set out his Brexit redlines, which constrain Ms May's position and further strain tensions with other ministers like Philip Hammond and Ruth Davidson seeking a more jobs and economy focussed Brexit.

With the Foreign Secretary recently having hailed Britain's "glorious" future outside the EU, Ms Davidson used an interview with The Times to call for serious people to take charge of Brexit.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in