Wednesday 27 May 2026 4:58 am  |  Updated:  Tuesday 26 May 2026 7:13 pm

The Debate: Is Britain’s minimum wage too high?

By: Anna Moloney

Deputy Comment and Features Editor

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Rishi Sunak has confessed minimum wage hikes he oversaw were too high. But is raising wages during a cost of living crisis really so bad? We hear both sides of the argument in this week’s debate

YES: Successive governments have used the minimum wage to get good headlines

Econ 101 states: don’t be surprised that when you raise the price of something, demand goes down. Britain’s national living wage is the highest in the G7 in absolute terms. It has risen by almost a third in real terms over the past decade. Since Labour has been in government the minimum wage for 19-year-olds has increased by 26 per cent – way above inflation. Now the bills associated with Labour’s policy choices are starting to add up.

Retail and hospitality account for a third of all minimum wage jobs and nearly half of all employment for under-25s. Both sectors are leading the fall in vacancies and payroll numbers. They are withdrawing from the market. Youth unemployment is at an 11-year high, 16.2 per cent. For the first time, Britain has a higher youth........

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