legal minimum

In January last year the firm also faced a backlash after revealing it would no longer hire new staff on the real living wage, instead paying the lower legal minimum wage.

The Living Wage Foundation said wage was worth £2,262 more per year in the UK than the legal minimum pay, and £4,700 more in London.

MPs themselves were entitled to a loss of office payment, set at twice the legal minimum, if they lost their seat and had been an MP for at least two years.

He cited a rise to the legal minimum wage, announced at October's Budget, as an example of how ministers were boosting living standards.

While many employers have more generous sick pay schemes, around one in four workers have to rely on the legal minimum.