Political editor Nicholas Watt said Boris Johnson is “looking at a new date” to formally introduce the rise in the national living wage. The rise will target UK’s lowest-paid earners over the age of 23 to around ￡9.42 per hour, which is more than double the previous increase of 2.2 percent in April 2021 which upped the national living wage to its current rate of ￡8.91 per hour.

       He continued: “And I understand that what he's looking at is a target date of the formal date that Rishi Sunak set in the budget of March 2020.

       “And that was that by 2024, the national living wage will increase to two-thirds of median earnings that can only happen if economic conditions allow.

       “And that would work out at ￡10.50 an hour.

       “Now, I understand that what the Prime Minister is looking at is bringing forward that target date from 2024 to an earlier date which would obviously then be an earlier rise in the national living wage.”

       He went on: “It's important to say that what this shows is that the Government can set the framework for the national living wage.

       “They can't set the exact amount that's done by the low pay commission.

       Boris Johnson is set to announce a rise in the so-called national living wage to ￡9.42 an hour within weeks

       The increase would mean the annual earning of someone on the national living wage would increase by 5/7 percent.

       The Prime Minister will say: “There is no reason why the inhabitants of one part of the country should be geographically fated to be poorer than others.

       “Or why people should feel they have to move away from their loved ones or communities to reach their potential.

       “It helps to take the pressure off parts of the overheating south-east, while simultaneously offering hope and opportunity to those areas that have felt left behind.”

       Recommendations for the minimum wage are made by the Low Pay Commission.