§ 17. Mrs. Shirley Williamsasked the Minister of Labour whether he will introduce legislation establishing a national minimum wage.
§ Mr. GunterI have no present proposals for such legislation.
§ Mrs. WilliamsWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for that Answer, may I point out to him that there are 150,000 families whose heads earn less than the National Assistance Board's subsistence rate, and does he not agree that our incomes policy will succeed only if we can bring justice to the lowest-paid workers in the community?
§ Mr. GunterYes, indeed, and provision was made in the White Paper for consideration of the lower-paid workers. On the first part of her supplementary question, I am not quite so sure that the way to deal with the point that she raises is by a national minimum wage. One of the studies which I think she has recently been reading, "The Poor and the Poorest," reveals that it is the low-wage earner with a large family who is living below the National Assistance Board level. I do not know that a national minimum wage affects that proposition.
§ Sir K. JosephCan the Minister tell the House that the point behind the question of the hon. Member for Hitchin (Mrs. Shirley Williams) is being taken seriously and considered urgently by the Government, if not by a national minimum wage, which we know would have many implications for differentials and industrial-costs, then by some other means?
§ Mr. GunterYes, indeed.