A BELATED coalition attempt to look tough on firms which cheat on the minimum wage was criticised by union leaders yesterday as a drop in the ocean compared to Britain’s cost of living crisis.
The government’s heavily touted crackdown on crooked employers, which kicked off last year, outed 25 companies which had been paying less than the national minimum wage.
Between them the firms, which include a hire company, a hairdressers, a hotel and a retail outlet, owe workers more than £43,000 in arrears, and face fines totalling more than £21,000.
Young Communist League general secretary GEORGINA ANDREWS says the far right are filling a vacuum created by Labour’s abandonment of working-class interests — we have to give our class a better offer
Labour must not allow unelected members of the upper house to erode a single provision of the Employment Rights Bill, argues ANDY MCDONALD MP
Our housing crisis isn’t an accident – it’s class war, trapping millions in poverty while landlords and billionaires profit. To solve it, we need comprehensive transformation, not mere tokenistic reform, writes BECK ROBERTSON



