LABOUR ditching its manifesto pledge for an equal living wage for employees of all ages is a “betrayal of workers,” unions have warned.

Former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn published an interim report on the rise in the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) on Thursday. 

He said he would be making a series of policy recommendations to the government in the autumn when he publishes the final report, suggesting that he would like the government to drop its commitment to pay all people over the age of 18 the national living wage.

The TUC said that cutting the minimum wage for young workers would be a mistake, saying that they “pay the same bills as everyone else and deserve a fair wage for their work.”

Labour pledged in its election manifesto that it would “make sure the minimum wage is a genuine living wage” and “remove the discriminatory age bands,” so that all adults are entitled to the same pay. 

But pensions minister Torsten Bell told the Today programme today: “The manifesto sets out that we should move the rates together over time. 

“It doesn’t set a timeline on that because that’s the important role of the Low Pay Commission.”

When pressed that people understood that to mean by the end of this parliament, Mr Bell said: “No, that’s not what it says in our manifesto. 

“But it’s an understandable mistake. It’s a long document.”

TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said that removing “discriminatory” age bands from minimum wage rates would be a “concrete step towards easing the cost-of-living crisis for millions of younger workers.”

She said: “Ditching the manifesto commitment to an equal living wage for employees of all ages would be a betrayal of young workers. 

“Young people are far too often exploited as a source of cheap labour as a consequence of the lower statutory national minimum wage rates for their age group.

“At a time when the government is experiencing huge unpopularity, it would be disastrous to ditch one of Labour’s most popular policies like this.”