Key facts
- Chancellor John Healey said the government remained committed to equalising the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds.
- Healey declined to say when the change would happen, saying he would take it "one step at a time."
- The budget raised the minimum wage by 3.9% for both adult and under-20 bands.
- Healey said he would "continue to make those trade-offs between jobs and wages" over youth unemployment fears.
- Healey said he was prepared to keep spending cuts of more than 2% year-on-year planned before the next election.
UK Chancellor John Healey said on Sunday that the government remained committed to equalising the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds but declined to say when the change would happen, making it less likely Labour meets its manifesto pledge before the next election.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Healey said he would take the change "one step at a time" and cited concerns that a larger rise for younger workers could increase youth unemployment. He said the government would "continue to make those trade-offs between jobs and wages."
The budget raised the minimum wage by 3.9% for both the adult and under-20 bands. A larger increase for younger workers would have been needed to move toward equalisation. Labour's 2024 manifesto committed to closing the pay gap for 18- to 20-year-olds.
Healey denied that Labour would break its manifesto commitment, saying the question was "when" and "how fast" rather than "whether or if." He said he wanted to bring business and trade unions into the process and described a million young people without work as "a moral shame on this nation."
Healey also said he was prepared to keep spending cuts planned before the next election, some of more than 2% year-on-year, and that they would be carried into a 10-year plan and the spending review next year. Some think tanks, including the Institute for Fiscal Studies, have criticised deficit reduction plans that appear to rely on unpopular cuts unlikely to be enacted before an election.
Separately, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told GB News on Sunday that the government would not make "crude cuts" to welfare to balance the books. She said proposals would be set out in the new year and legislation would follow to bring the welfare bill down "in a fair and sustainable way."