Member

There is one other reason why I support these amendments. Clause 11 implies that those below the lower earnings level can do as well as those on higher earnings without improvements in their skills and productivity levels, the Government’s modelling being based on being “productive” at the present rather low skill levels. That premise, and that overall reflected by this Bill, is misguided, in that additional costs to be borne by employers alone are to be paid for without productivity gains and with no regard for the wider context of the overall economy or its buoyancy. Rather, the Bill, including Clause 11, locks the UK labour market into being the economy with the lowest productivity among similar G7 economies, with the lowest productive output per hour.