Cable: Tax threshold helps poor more than Labour’s wage plans
THE COALITION has helped shore up living standards by raising the income tax threshold to £10,000, Vince Cable will say this morning.
The business secretary is hitting back at Ed Miliband’s claims the government has hit living standards.
The Labour leader has struck a chord with voters by promising to freeze energy bills if he is elected and vowing to hike the minimum wage.
But Cable warned raising the minimum wage too quickly could put some workers, particularly the young, out of work.
“A pay floor completely detached from an affordable level is likely to bring about job cuts,” Cable said.
“For example, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has estimated that increasing the NMW to the rates supported by the Living Wage Foundation would cause a net job loss of 160,000.”