THE national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October, it has been announced.

For those of us fortunate enough to earn considerably more than the national minimum wage, a three per cent rise to £6.70 may sound pretty derisory.

It is equivalent, for example, to just two-and-half flat white coffees in a famous coffee chain, and would allow the recipient of that wage to rent a one-bedroom place in a dowdier part of London so long as he or she did not eat, use power, pay council tax or wear clothes.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg say it is the largest real-terms increase since 2008. Who are they kidding? Can they live on that sort of income? I do not think so. This tells me how badly low-paid workers have done pre tax and benefits since then.

The problem in introducing a minimum wage has been that employers have used it as a standard wage to be paid to new employees; mainly by large companies.

The money saved has been handed to management and shareholders which explains the expanding gap between the rich and poor. And there is one really important area of the living costs of all of us, including the poorest, where inflation remains excessive — the cost of a home.

So many would argue that if any British government really wanted to address poverty and the most grotesque forms of inequality, much more would need to be done to increase the home income and supply of affordable housing.

This increase is not good enough.

Cllr Salim Mulla, Blackburn (via email)