§ 8. Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to conduct research into the effects of a national minimum wage. [16010]
§ Mr. OppenheimI have looked at unemployment among young people in Spain at 38 per cent.—a country which has a national minimum wage—and concluded that no further research is necessary.
§ Mr. FoulkesMy hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Gapes) refers to the Minister as a "smart arse", but I will say nothing on that subject as I know that you would stop me, Madam Speaker.
Would the Minister care to contrast a constituent who telephoned me at the weekend to say that he had been offered a job at £1.70 an hour as a security guard—with all the danger that that involves—with the chief executive 1517 of PowerGen, who gets £34,000 for three "little jobs" which he does in his spare time, and a further £350,000 in salary? Does not that illustrate that we need legislation not only for a national minimum wage but for a national maximum wage?
§ Mr. OppenheimI do not know whether that was a Labour policy announcement. We all want the less well-off to be better paid, but the Opposition's policy is doubly deceitful and dishonest. The Opposition pretend to the less well-off that there is a simple and cost-free way to raise wages, but they will not even say until after the election at what level the minimum wage will be set. In effect, they are giving the less well-off a menu without prices in the hope that the less well-off will not find out the true cost—which will be their jobs-until after the election.
§ Mr. ThurnhamDid not Barbara Castle carry out research into a minimum wage 20 years ago and reject it because it would cause unemployment? Does not that prove that Labour never learns?
§ Mr. OppenheimBarbara Castle, when she was Secretary of State for Employment, and John Grant, when he was the low pay Minister in the last Labour Government, had the honesty and integrity to admit that no minimum wage policy could be implemented because of the problem of pushing up differentials. It is extraordinary that new Labour—as it calls itself—is, far from progressing on the issue, regressing.
§ Ms EagleIs the Minister happy that 1 million people currently earn less than £2.50 an hour and that 300,000 earn less than £1.50 an hour after nearly 17 years of this appalling Government?
§ Mr. OppenheimThe hon. Lady is quoting from a recent press release from the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman), which criticised several national supermarket chains for paying less than £4 an hour. The hon. Lady might like to know that her hon. Friend the Member for Peckham missed one important retailer off her list. The Co-op pays many workers about £3.50 an hour, which is well below the TUC's recommended minimum wage.