Call For Carers To Get 'Full Living Wage' First

Yvette Cooper has revealed she wants to introduce a higher minimum wage than that proposed under George Osborne's Budget.

In an interview with Sky News the Labour leadership candidate said Mr Osborne wasn’t delivering a "full" living wage.

Ms Cooper announced that, under her government, care workers would be first in line to get the upgraded pay.

In reference to left winger Jeremy Corbyn's campaign, the shadow home secretary also warned that Labour won’t get elected by simply "being angry at the world".

Mr Osborne's living wage was the rabbit out of the hat moment, but Ms Cooper says the actual living wage is higher than Mr Osborne's figures and she would aim to introduce it properly - starting with social care.

Ms Cooper told Sky News: "People are caring for the frailest and most elderly people and at the moment that sector is being left behind: people in low skilled low paid work, we should take them seriously.

"So let's start by paying people in social care a living wage, treat it as a proper, good quality, important job, and get a living wage across the board - a real living wage - not just what George Osborne is doing."

Mr Osborne will raise minimum pay from £6.50 to £7.20 next year, but according to the Living Wage Foundation this year outside of London the living wage is £7.85 and in the capital it's £9.15.

The UK Home Care Association warns that increased pay needs to be backed by funding for local government.

It estimates the current average price for home care is £13.66 per hour. But with the Chancellor's national living wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 21 years and above it would rise to £16.70 per hour - and even higher under Ms Cooper’s plan.

Ms Cooper says she can raise money to pay care workers by closing tax loopholes for hedge funds. She appears to be taking a harder line against Mr Osborne’s budget after agreeing to abstain in last month’s vote on the Government’s Welfare Bill.

Reflecting on the vote, she told Sky News: "Clearly that was a mess and we have got to make sure that we are standing up against the cuts to tax credits that are hitting working people across the country. If the Government doesn’t make the changes we need to the Welfare Reform Bill then Labour will vote against it if I'm elected leader."

Ms Cooper is currently standing third in the leadership race according to most polls, but has this warning for those thinking of backing frontrunner Mr Corbyn.

"It’s not good enough just to be angry at the world - we are the Labour party - we should be trying to change the world.

"That’s why I want universal child care and more sure starts something I was involved in as a minister - in order to help families get on who are feeling stretched and strained in all directions.

"If we want to abolish the bedroom tax we first need to get elected to do that, and that’s what I want to do, pull the whole country together so Labour can get elected in 2020."