Labour’s recent strategy, to entitle workers aged 16, to an equal payment of the £10-an-hour minimum living wages paid to adults – would result in a rise of almost 150 per cent and prevent 16-17-year-olds from getting on the jobs ladder; predicted business groups and think tanks.
The warnings came after Jeremy Corbyn shared his plans at a union conference. Industry experts cautioning that the policy would lead to employing fewer workers, with companies going for older workers rather than “younger and riskier hires.” Adam Marshall, the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce expressed concerns on Friday: “We should be creating jobs and growth opportunities for young people. A proposal like this could price them out of the workplace,” he said. But these predictions, or any form of warnings don’t seem to be abating Corbyn’s increasing popularity.
Corbynmania swept through the Glastonbury festival last week where the crowd chanted Corbyn’s name, “Oooh Jeremy Corbyn” and made it this year’s festival anthem - the first time in the event’s history. The chants were heard as thousands of ticket holders queued at 4am on Wednesday. The festival, that has a long history of leftist political engagement, was attended by a band of present and former Labour MPs, speaking and dancing at the event. Corbyn himself addressed thousands of people from the main pyramid stage on Sunday afternoon.
