UNIONS blasted the Tories over their legacy of low pay and ill health as new figures show that wages have grown at an increasingly sluggish pace while levels of long-term sickness remain historically high.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published figures today showing that average regular pay growth, excluding bonuses, had fallen to 6.2 per cent in the quarter to December. 

The figure was much lower than anticipated, down from 6.7 per cent in the three months to November, in the slowest growth seen since the three months to October 2022.