Labour would boost low-paid workers’ incomes if it won the election, it insisted yesterday after taking flak from affiliated trade unions.

A party spokesman said that shadow chancellor Ed Balls would “balance the books in a fairer way” if Labour was elected in May.

The statement was issued to the Star after a trio of trade union leaders criticised Labour’s plans for “austerity-lite” during the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise rally on Saturday.