Vince Cable refuses to toe government line on slow wage growth
Business secretary Vince Cable drifted away from the government’s usual line on the UK’s economic recovery over the weekend, talking openly about the country’s meagre wage growth.
Writing in some of the UK’s regional newspapers, Cable addressed the paltry increase in wages, noting in the Yorkshire Post that pay only rose by 0.5 per cent in the last year in the region, compared to consumer price inflation of 1.5 per cent.
Even as business investment has picked up and unemployment has fallen, real wages are still dropping across the country.
Cable’s Lib Dem colleague, Danny Alexander, said that last week’s GDP figures, which confirmed that the UK has to a new record size after six years of recession and stagnation, were a vindication of the government.
Offered an opportunity to discuss the weak wage growth on BBC radio, Alexander touted the government’s increase to the income tax threshold and freeze in fuel duty.
Both Cable and Alexander have been touted as potential economic spokesmen for the party during the upcoming general election. Cable filled the role in 2010.