HC Deb 17 March 1997 vol 292 c389W
Sir Irvine Patnick

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimates he has made of the effect of a minimum wage of £4.26 per hour with 50 per cent. restoration of wage differentials on the number of jobs in the United Kingdom. [20318]

Mr. John M. Taylor

In December 1995, my officials estimated that a minimum wage set at £4.26, as advocated by last year's Trades Union Congress, would lead to the loss of more than 1 million jobs with only half restoration of wage differentials.