Ed Miliband vows to raise minimum wage

Ed Miliband has told ITV News that he thinks is in a position to win the next General Election.

Dismissing suggestions he should be doing better, Miliband said that proposals - such as those to link the minimum wage to average earnings - showed the party could deliver real change.

ITV News' Political Editor Tom Bradby reports:

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Ed Miliband has dismissed suggestions he should be doing better as Labour leader, insisting that "the battle is on" for victory in next year's general election.

Mr Miliband told ITV News Political Editor Tom Bradby that after defeat in 2010 "people wrote us off" but now his party is "in a good position" to win in 2015.

He said the challenge for him and his rivals was to deal with the "huge discontent" people feel about their living standards.

Read: Ed Miliband vows to raise minimum wage

Ed Miliband has said his "radical" proposal to link the minimum wage to the national average is the biggest change to the system since it was introduced 15 years ago.

The Labour leader said there is a "low pay epidemic" in the country with over five million people on low pay in Britain.

Mr Miliband unveiled his plans during a speech in Walsall, with a member of his staff recording his speech on Twitter:

Read: Britain is 'doing badly' for low wage earners

Labour's call for the minimum wage to be linked to the national average forms the "core proposal" of a report Ed Miliband commissioned from former deputy chairman of KPMG International Alan Buckle.

Mr Buckle's proposals to overhaul the Low Pay Commission include a new five-year target and a strengthened role in tackling poverty and raising productivity.

He said the goal to increase the minimum wage over the life of a parliament was achievable.

The GMB union said Labour's commitment to review the role of the Low Pay Commission was "welcome and necessary", while the TUC said: "Unions have long argued that many employers can easily pay more than the legal minimum."

"Alan Buckle's report shows that fair pay goes hand in hand with running a successful economy," TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said.

The UK's leading business lobby group has criticised Labour leader Ed Miliband's call for the minimum wage to be linked to the national average, saying politicians should not set wages.

Katja Hall, chief policy director of the CBI, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

Ms Hall said the best way to boost earnings is by raising the country's productivity.

She called on the Government to improve school and vocational education and urged businesses to offer more apprenticeships.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has said Britain is one of the worst developed countries in the world for low paid workers as he outlined his plans to raise the national minimum wage.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Miliband said while other nations were "facing up" to low pay issues, "we are doing badly as a country". He added:

Mr Miliband said he would consult with businesses before moving ahead with plans to establish a link between the minimum wage and the earnings of other workers.

Read: Miliband wants minimum wage linked to national average

Labour leader Ed Miliband will outline his party's plans to raise the minimum wage "significantly" and link it to average wages.

Read: Miliband vows to significantly raise the minimum wage

Mr Miliband will say he wants to build on the achievement of the last Labour government which introduced the minimum wage after Tony Blair's landslide general election victory in 1997.

The plans, based on a report commissioned from Alan Buckle, the former deputy chairman of KMPG International, will include proposals to overhaul the Low Pay Commission, and include recommendations to encourage employers to pay the higher "living wage".

Read: Nearly half of jobs in some places do no not pay 'living wage'

Labour leader Ed Miliband will unveil plans to tackle income inequality and working poverty in a speech to party activists in the West Midlands today.

Read: Miliband vows to significantly raise the minimum wage

The plans are likely to be welcomed by some critics in the party who have complained that Mr Miliband has so far failed to set out a positive vision of what Labour can offer.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will today commit a Labour government to significantly raising the level of the national minimum wage over the course of the next parliament, as part of an attempt to curtail the UK's rising inequality.

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Mr Miliband will promise to establish a "clear link" between the minimum wage and the earnings of other workers to ensure those at the very bottom of the pay scale do not get "left behind".