Chancellor Alistair Darling has written to the Low Paid Commission, asking how the minimum wage could further “support young workers” to compensate them for paying more income tax.
Increasing the minimum wage is one of the options being proposed by the Westminster Government.
SGF chief executive John Drummond: “It was the Government’s decision to scrap the 10p rate of income tax, so for the Chancellor to now be suggesting that retailers bail out the Government’s poorly thought-out tax policies is quite simply ridiculous.
“Since its introduction in 1999 the minimum wage has increased substantially more than the rate of inflation. Whilst our members support the principle of a fair wage, to expect businesses to deal with these above inflation increases year on year is unacceptable, let alone support the Westminster Government’s tax gaffs.
“We are concerned that increased wage costs could in turn result in increased costs to the customer.”
The SGF’s concerns mirror those of the Association of Convenience Stores, aired yesterday.
