Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has said he wants to see an above-inflation increase in the minimum wage. In an exclusive interview with the BBC he said that the adult minimum wage, currently £6.31 an hour, would have to increase to £7 an hour by 2015 for its value to return to where it was before the global economic recession.
 
Osborne said that since coming to power in 2010 the coalition government had: 'rescued the country from the brink of disaster and got us into a position where we can now see the minimum wage going up'. He added: 'I want to make sure we are all in it together, as part of the recovery, which is why I want to see above-inflation increases in the minimum wage, precisely because the British economy can now afford that'.
 
The interview came on the day before a major speech on the economy by the opposition Labour leader, who has referred on a number of occasions to the 'cost of living crisis' resulting from the economic recession.
 
Source: BBC report, 16 January 2014
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