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The Long View

Factual: History

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

Jonathan Freedland presents the series in which stories from the past are compared with current events.

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The Long View: The Living Wage

08/09/2015

The Living Wage

BBC Radio 4 - The Long View, The Living Wage

Jonathan Freedland examines today's 'living wage' in the light of a treatise from 1894.

Jonathan Freedland examines today's concept of a 'living wage' through a treatise written in 1894 by Sir Mark Oldroyd, a Dewsbury mill owner and Liberal MP.

Jonathan Freedland examines current debates about the "living wage" in the light of a publication by woollen manufacturer, Sir Mark Oldroyd in 1894. As Liberal MP and the owner of a number of mills in Dewsbury in Yorkshire, he delivered a lecture to the Dewsbury Pioneers Industrial Society called "A Living Wage". It said: "A living wage must be sufficient to maintain the worker in the highest state of industrial efficiency, with decent surroundings and sufficient leisure".

Jonathan is joined by Dr Stephen Davies from the Institute of Economic Affairs, Dr Sheila Blackburn from the University of Liverpool, Margaret Watson, former editor of Dewsbury Reporter, Father Simon Cuff, a leader with Citizens UK and actor Barrie Rutter.

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