ONE of the more surprising announcements in the Chancellor’s summer budget speech was a plan to replace the minimum wage with a new National Living Wage — that will reach £9 per hour by the year 2020.

The plan will see workers in Bolton aged 25 and over entitled to an hourly payment of £7.20 from April next year, with that figure then set to rise.

The announcement has been labelled “smoke and mirrors” by Bolton North East MP David Crausby.

He said: “I think it is a con — what they are doing is increasing the minimum wage by a bit and calling it a living wage.

“They are trying to kid the public that this is a living wage when it isn’t — that is something that is not set by the government and never should be.”

Former local bank director and business mentor Dave Jones, said that while the rise will affect employers, businesses will be compensated by a lowering in National Insurance contributions and a reduction in corporation tax.

He said: “We are on track for the lowest corporation tax regulations in the EU and this will improve Bolton’s economy and attract inward investment to the borough.”