EAST Lancashire Labour MP Gordon Prentice has appealed directly to Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers for the Minimum Wage to be uprated in April.
But the Cabinet Minister gave no hint that the Government was prepared to increase the £3.60 an hour salary floor by even the rate of inflation, on its first anniversary. Despite the setback, Pendle backbencher Mr Prentice, who has written to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the matter, vowed to keep up his campaign on the issue.
He asked Mr Byers in the Commons how many people had contacted the minimum wage hotline since it was launched and was told the figure was 150,000 calls.
Mr Prentice then said: "I suspect that a good number of that 150,000 came from Pendle and North East Lancashire.
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