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to millions anwe must be a driving force in canginthe lives ofilonof young pele whoe represe will nevereceive the bestta i life unless weaka stand today andfghfor the living ge thk u. ppus vrapal thank you for giving uup to a cacng start. now i calltoppose the motion from wales ms. avery aba. [applause] >> thank you m saker todaase t this hallowed chbe ousands akinfar. they wake knowing tht today as s yesterday is anoerayf cline, dayne dayan all eyta f his queions and a ycer tevtu

judgment. today nks qke. ye73000 young people conscious of their reality hp us ta fehe opportunity islited adorboses cannott to t. life is tough. younpeople areeing faced th pverty and the culref unemployme living wage do n address th. it doenot challee e mplacencyhat has led this once gre nation becomin ineang unequal. as young peoe are being forced tosacrife ntgrity for ndamentals. nothe prosition spksf increased oporni a chance yein truth oortunity i not

ead on your table nor milk in your fridge. oppouny is freed and i motiondonot provide that. e ving we does not address this. itoenotack t culture of unemploynthat aryog op exist with. does is, statement rather ta a winable campaign, prome e place of young pplin wrk epe or life? living wage wi dsadvantage the 733,000 young pop currently out of work and lay the foundationfr a bken ecom the onis say and s they are rit, thathe economy is too weaktounable to hale ch change tha his however esot absolve h of guil it does not foe ayog people to acce poverty howerg mt flct

productivity. e vingwag immediate outsources young people. al business t fuamentals of our flglg economy llo long be able to surviveas many familie which can only make a of using laor paid less tn living wage will g bust. the worst thing of al is that the smal firmswil now have to furtherompete with bi business. to pawoullash their ofit, damage their abity to mpete and thrtetheir ability. bos johnson, ed mlibandi either of estwo yog en n albsinesses? have thesewoen sacficed odn der to feed their ildren? cross rtsupport does not suggesa correct campaign.

icall for y to vote or a campaign that prot t yng person rather th servi aa direct detriment. the living ae an issue ch bigger than this paramt, bigger than the oernment then onis and it represents a fundamental ise scty. this ladies and ntmen is an issue yo hod direct with your democratic vote. thk you. [alae] >>very tnk you very much. the general debates w open. i ulli to stt by calling a speaker if there is on wiing tocntbute fom the stidnd who have auy froea mian? you arenot obliged if you don't wanto.

ay for nth subject. not from the at idlands is theranybody who wants to speak on thebjectonehside of e argumentrom scotland's? the is from scotland the young woman in white shirt, t whiteop >>i. thank you mr. speaker. my name isice and m re representi scotla. 's not easbeing a young peonndcurrently nen five childrenivinoverty. and over 61%f those children are fr a working-class fmily. in vmb 2 the national minimuwage. [iudle] that money cul o so far and it could mean so much young people. if unemployment is cretl at

775 scotland that's too many and i believe --m plsed to tack this problem. ppuse] thanks. >> thank you very much indeed for that. now can we have a contributor from the southwest? anybody from the southwest? what about the young lady in the drain, light green dress. please. >> my name is -- and i'm from the southwest. coming from a rural area where employment opportunities are very hard to get day in and day out i see in my constituency inequality, oppression and disparity in effect the fact that some people need to work harder and harder just to survive, not even to live. this means young people and of course people from all ages in my area something my gut tells

me now is the time to back a living wage. now is the time to give socially disadvantaged people who generally work their fingers to the bone may be working two or three jobs just to make a living, the chance to live more comfortably as well as aspire to so much more. let's not forget that those hard-working people are the ones that we represent in the u.k. parliament. let's leave our influence into the threads of this chamber. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. do we have anybody from the northwest who wants to take part in this? yes, we have got one from the northwest. let us hear your voice please. >> thank you mr. speaker. i am emily from the northwest. i'm not excusing that -- would

make people more comfortable however we have to look at it from a financial and practical stance. increasing the wage could potentially result in less jobs being available as employers will have to find the finances to fund individual wages. representing barry and the northwest as i said before were unemployment is quite high feel it's more important to ensure there are as many job opportunities available for all the people especially young people. those building community within an area are counting on our four great countries. thank you. [applause] >> now who have we got from the east of england who is interested in contributing? what about the young man here. this gentleman here, please. >> hi my name is michael and i represent the east of england. a compulsory paid living wage would ensure that everybody has enough to get by.

in the last 30 years people with low pay have had less and less especially women, part-time workers and younger workers. the main employment sectors for young people are retail and hospitality. they paid 41% and 69% of their workers respectively last than a living wage. we are getting the short end of the stick. some may argue that we have less needs and parents to benefit from however it is the governments current -- to get 50% of people's university. this is a huge amount of debt. surely the earlier we start saving the better. maybe more importantly a study has shown that young people the young people who work over 65% of them have their parents are

earning in the 25th percentile. so the people that work have the least well-off parents. to help our younger people and to reduce the tide of lower living standards we need to raise the minimum wage now. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. can we have a speaker from northern ireland? anybody from northern ireland that wishes to take part in this debate? too? there will be other opportunities i'm quite sure. what about a contributor from the southeast. have we got a contributor from the southeast? what about this young man here from the southeast? >> hello i am from -- and we have discussed how this could affect small businesses and essentially destroy them but this overlooks how much good large business does for people.

because they have the ability to support themselves regardless of the necessary success in the area being in a chain they can do so much for the local people who they are employing and if the particular branch isn't as successful as other branches it won't necessarily shot. whereas a small business definitely will. if you can't itself it doesn't get supported whereas in a chain the funds can be moved around so that stays open so employment is more sustainable, which i think is a brilliant thing. i think we shouldn't overlook the benefit of a large company and you shouldn't say small businesses necessarily better just because it's a small business. don't overlook a large business and say the cuts to small businesses would be too great and too much of the cost. [applause] >> thank you very much indeed. what about the contributor from

london? we have a wealth of people from london. very demonstrative. i'm very impressed. all sorts of new techniques are being deployed to attract attention. we won't forget you sir. you cannot be forgotten but for now we would hear from this young lady here. >> hello i represent london borough. i had to show an example of this in practice. england eden has agreed to pay everyone is in a council living wage opposed to the national minimum wage. this is worked out well. the leadership implemented throughout all local authorities and the private sector. it will benefit all. [applause] >> thank you. now do we have a conjure bitter from the northeast? the northeast, yes this gentleman.

>> i'm from north england. i believe ultimately it's the city's responsibility to provide a basic level of wealth to ensure that people are able to take care of themselves. therefore i believe that in not bringing the living wage as minimum wage we are ultimately allowing the state to fail because of the fact that we are not allowing people to flirt. i believe financially this could potentially work because of the fact that people will be able to afford to buy more things and therefore the businesses can't afford to increase prices slightly sort of ultimately all work out. [applause] >> is there anyone in this debate that wishes to contribute from yorkshire and humber site. a wealth of people. the first person i saw was the gentleman nearest, hugh

buttoning up your very smart jacket. we are grateful to you. you are a model of sartorial elegance before you've even started. >> mr. speaker i am from leeds representing yorkshire. why are we leaving it to businesses to look to the corporate hard to help young people? why are we leaving it to chance? surely if there's a minimum wage and there's a living wage why are we allowing businesses. surely we should be giving young people the same opportunity. getting rid of inequality within business allows young people to strive alongside the people that are elder to us and we have heard from people all over the floor today surely we are sitting on these green branches and getting nice profile pictures i hope. we should remember what was the point. that motion is clear that we should support it because this

motion allows equality with an young people and that is what we stand for. thank you mr. speaker. [applause] >> well, once or twice i have not had taker so i'm going to try again. who on the side of the chamber hasn't contributed to this debate but would like to do so? okay yudin narrowly -- earlier. the woman in the back row. >> thank you mr. speaker. i am from central scotland here and i've wanted to -- from scottish parliament. it led to the introduction of a living wage introduction the scottish government. scotland paid a living wage and scotland is a churck sample of how you should lead the way

because how can we justify in the 21st century and a -- a property? thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for your speech. i must just tell you in this as proof of the importance of persistence in politics i once stood as a candidate in 1987 from wells south which included was sure but sadly for maywood shor fell back. okay now can we have another contributor on this site. i know we haven't had anybody yet from the east midlands. east midlands, please. >> i am from nottingham.

i would like to see people working hard day in and day out to earn a wage that doesn't cover the basic necessities where we shocked when they're unemployed? raising the living wage would encourage people to find a job to contribute to society. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. we may be able to squeeze a couple more in. i wanted to welcome my parliamentary colleagues the honorable conservative member of parliament guy opperman. [applause] and in fact i think he thinks that i think he still quite a young person. >> you probably think we are incredibly aged aged. whoever got on the side who would like to contribute? have a god other's? this young man here. let's hear from you. >> thank you mr. speaker. my name is tom morehouse and i

represent the southeast. what we need to do is to look back to where our parents were our age and our grandparents were our age. how many in this chamber were told they are not trying hard enough and it's easy to get a job if you just go down to the shops. 15 years ago is easier to go down to the fish and chips and get a job and that was a privilege you have is a young person. he didn't have to pay quite as much. the times have changed where you have now more automation and more integration and more labor who are willing to be paid less to do the same job as young people have been doing. the jobs that were reserved for young people are now being taken by machines and other people. think what needs to happen before we pushed 16-year-olds to

be paid the same as 20 to 25 euros to do the same job with the privilege of being young people and not having to rely on that which. you have other people to depend upon in most circumstances. i know there are exceptions. i think having the llovera wage to be able to pay a young person is a privilege because it's an advantage to getting a job where is it would be much harder for any young person to achieve the same level of employment if they have the same wage as someone who was 10 or 15 years older than them. thank you mr. speaker. [applause] >> now i teased the young gentleman whom i called the great gesticulate her who waved his arms around in a flamboyant manner earlier. if he waited for his moment he might get his chance. his moment has arrived. let's hear from him. [applause]

>> thank you mr. speaker. my name is jack lewis and i'm from the great city of london. first of all why do we work? we work to live. but why should we work if we can't afford to live? there are people in this country who are relying on the benefits rather than seeking the minimum wage because they get more money for doing so. is this right? let me tell you that most definitely is not. one of the things about this campaign is that it's most certainly just. the moral argument today on the political support is there. however the economic sense is not. imagine it as a cycle. your wages improve. you spend more money in the economy. businesses have higher profits and as a result of fact wages go up as well.

this is the circular flow of income. now it would cause economic growth and inflation of the same time. my opinion has changed over the past couple of months to do the research i've done but i think while wasting wages will cause economic growth it might also cause inflation so that something went to be aware of. however the most important argument we have to consider today is the fact that one of the main reasons employers employ young people is that we are essentially cheap. yes we have vitality and as we have energy but the thing is a living wage the minimum wage for young people is three pounds 79 an hour. we are cheap and it's a fantastic way for young people to find part-time work. thank you mr. speaker and please vote for this campaign. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much indeed. not to conclude the debate i

call from the northwest of england ms. caro brody. [applause] >> thank you mr. speaker. it's a simple idea. every working person should be paid enough to live decently and to adequately provide for their families. it's a wage. that's enough to live on. at the moment 5.3 million working people live on less than a living wage. we are flipping in the sixth wealthiest country in the world but we cannot pay one in five working people and acceptable wage to live on? what is going on? however, simple made it seem the implications of this high wage

may not be so straightforward. quick fixes to the economy don't always work and maybe this campaign is just too idealistic. would we achieve anything by the end of the year? by telling businesses to pay their employees at this high rate they -- there may be only one way to make ends meet. laying off staff and creating fewer jobs. these pay rises could add up to what could have been someone else's wages. what would a living wage mean to a young person who has no job at all? is this a question of job creation or wage inflation and? as young people we may not see this as something affecting us much. maybe because we are not working yet. this is a campaign for a better future for us all. it's for us to not view our

futures as hopeless with more prosperous for a future where we can go to work assured that our wages will allow us to live and not just survive. our futures are bright, not bleak, happy, not sad and with a living wage as our campaign the future is ours. [applause] the opposition talks about inflation about the value of the supposed pay rise in real terms. if employers are playing there -- paying their workers more their costs are going to go up. school it will cost you more to get there, to play there, to eat they are treated happy meals won't be so happy when there are are -- prices will go up at a faster rate with a living wage and we will find ourselves endlessly campaigning for a higher wage.

the living wage is a fair price of a person's labor. in order to trade businesses have to pay a price for all sorts of goods and services. it's nonnegotiable. that is just business. maybe we are just too scared to mess with the economy before it might do more harm than good. or are we too scared to rely on people to have breakfast in addition to a warm home but would our campaign achieved that? it's all eyes on you. thank you mr. speaker. [applause] >> kiro thank you for such a

compassionate conclusion to what i think we will agree has been an excellent first debate. all the contributions from both sides of the argument as i do every day in the house of commons with great interest and respect. i must just tell you that about a year ago possibly just over i asked the most senior official in the service of the house whether everybody who worked on the parliamentary estate was paid at least the london living wage. he said he didn't know and i asked him to check. it turned out there was a small number of people not paid the amount of a living wage. i insisted that everybody who works here, not just every employee but every contractor too should be paid at least the london living wage. that is now the case. not before time i must say i'm

nevertheless very pleased at the house of commons is an accredited living wage employer accredited by the living wage foundation and i do hope that others around the country will follow suit. [applause] ..