This week, while giving a speech on the new, higher London Living Wage, our fair city’s great leader made an admission so unprecedented, it made the assembled company gasp. One woman fainted. Someone exclaimed. But there it was, out in the open.
Boris Johnson said he had once been wrong.
I know, I felt it too – that little flutter of hope, an indication there may actually be a politician out there who is willing to admit to their own fallibility.
Apparently, 11 years ago, Bozza had voted against the minimum wage. Now, he believes that was wrong. Amazing.
Anyway, enough of that – now the Greater London Authority (GLA) has decided the new London Living Wage should be £7.45 an hour. This should give workers enough to live above the poverty line during the current economic downturn.
On the surface, this looks perfectly pleasing. One for the human rights. But if you scratch the surface, there are at least three problems with the plan which make it look a bit like another one of BoJo’s attention grabbing plans which in reality, will never be fully realised.
Problem number one: Inflation
Every morning, the Startups team have to get to their desks by boat, taking it in turns to punt across a treacherous lake of press releases warning businesses not to put up salaries to cope with higher living expenses because that will raise inflation, which will in turn raise living expenses. Some people think our former editor, Matt, changed jobs. That’s not true. He actually drowned in the lake of inflation press releases and hasn’t been seen since Mervyn King admitted there were tough times ahead. Raising wages at the moment is dangerous. I rest my case.
Problem number two: It’s unenforceable
It’s a nice idea to raise the London Living Wage – as I said before, I really don’t begrudge low-paid workers a decent standard of living. But there’s nothing Boris can do to make businesses pay their workers this wage. It’s not a legal compulsion and he’s not going to do anything to even encourage it – so why should you fork out more? Which leads me to…
Problem number three: It’s expensive
Having attended Eton and then Oxford via the Bullingdon Club, it’s clear that Boris doesn’t have that many financial worries, ever. But, what with there being an economic downturn on and all, there aren’t that many small businesses who are in a financial position to pay extra money to their employees. It’s just not realistic.
Having hyped small business owners up during his election campaign, Boris has yet to deliver any solid, enforceable legislation. We had high hopes for the Tory glory at the beginning of his reign, and we’re still waiting to see what he has in stock.
