With the election debate raging on, somebody posted on Twitter that ’16-year-olds don’t deserve £10 per hour’:
https://twitter.com/sIaghetti/status/1192740236834607105
But this sorry claim got taken down pretty fast.
Takedown
The tweet references Labour’s promise for a £10 minimum wage. Fortunately, a supporter’s takedown of the claim we should exclude 16-year-olds went viral:
Jeff Bezos does not deserve or need $9,000,000 per hour but here we are https://t.co/5qUqtSXN4t
— Laura Williams (@lozwilliamsx) November 8, 2019
Bezos, founder of Amazon and the richest man on the planet, literally earns $8,961,187 per hour.
Jeremy Corbyn has previously challenged Bezos’s extreme wealth and told him to pay taxes and respect workers:
I have a simple message for @Amazon and Jeff Bezos:
Pay your taxes and respect workers' rights.
Change is coming.https://t.co/zgsYjExXUb
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 21, 2019
You can only take that type of money through exploitation, tax dodging, and uncompetitive market practices.
Others on Twitter called out the ageism of paying younger people less:
But if they are doing the same job as the older ones … why are they being paid less
— baby m 🇰🇪 (@princessdelfueg) November 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/17dinahh/status/1192940382721650689
Labour’s policies, such as a £10 minimum wage, free higher education, and fully public healthcare, are universal. Whatever your age, gender, or race, they do not discriminate – the policies will apply to you.
Obscene inequality
The UK’s richest 1,000 families have increased their wealth by over £500bn since the 2008 financial crash, while the majority of us face austerity cuts. The idea we should be punching down at 16-year-olds is not just ludicrous but depressing.
This is a global issue. Oxfam’s latest report found that 26 people own more wealth than the bottom half of the planet.
Corbyn’s Labour is right to make inequality the focus of its campaign. This level of disparity is simply grotesque.
Featured image via Sophie Brown/ WikiCommons
