BRITAIN risks slipping back into 19th-century working conditions as millions of people struggle with insecure employment and earn less than the minimum wage, the TUC warned yesterday.

A new report by the union federation said there are 3.7 million people in insecure work, nearly two million self-employed people are earning under the minimum wage and workers have suffered the longest pay squeeze for 200 years.

Unless the balance of power in the workplace is reset, economic inequality and insecure work will continue to increase, it warned.