UKIP slammed over NMW remarks

The TUC responded angrily to comments made by UKIP leader Nigel Farage last month that he opposes an increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) on the grounds that it would encourage immigrants to come and work in the UK.

Farage made his comments at a phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live. In response to a caller’s question on whether he would raise the NMW, he said: “There is a problem with doing that. That is that if you increase the minimum wage, you may actually even attract more migrant labour.

“Don’t forget, the minimum wage in Britain is now nine times what it is in Romania. If you increase it even more people would want to come. I want to see the market adjust this. I think the minimum wage was designed to be a floor and it has actually become a ceiling.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said Farage’s “economically illiterate” remarks insulted the intelligence of voters.

“Capping the minimum wage would drive down earnings for low-paid workers across the economy,” she said. “Giving bad bosses an excuse to skimp on wages and exploit staff is the last thing we need.”

“Does Nigel Farage really want to be known as the champion of poverty pay?”

She said the economy needs wage growth to flourish, “not a race to the bottom”.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fury-nigel-farage-rules-out-5540157