Mick Grant

The general public of North Lincolnshire need to know 18 local Tories last week failed to support the national minimum wage. As a trade unionist and Labour councillor I welcome the recent initiative to increase the minimum wage for adults to £5.73 per hour in October. This is a 60 per cent increase since the scheme began in 1998. Within the first hour of the scheme it took two million people off the breadline.

At last week's full council meeting I tabled a non-political motion welcoming the increase and recognising how it had helped thousands of people in North Lincolnshire. Not only did the local Tory group put forward a venomous anti-Government amendment, which was thrown out, but astonishingly they then abstained from approving our motion.

In other words they do not think the minimum wage is a good idea and, God forbid they ever come back to Government, I think we can safely assume they would ditch the minimum wage and send millions back into poverty.

I have asked the Scunthorpe Telegraph to name and shame these councillors as people need to know what the people they have voted for have said. Given their recent coverage I do not think they will do this. So here are the Tory members who did not vote in favour of the minimum wage.

• John Briggs
• Liz Redfern
• William Eckhardt
• Jean Bromby
• Rob Waltham
• Ivan Glover
• John England
• Trevor Foster
• John Berry
• Nigel Sherwood
• Carl Sherwood
• Ted Appleyard
• Margaret Sidell
• Keith Vickers
• Peter Clark
• John Wardle
• David Wells
• Don Stewart

Quite simply, these councillors are a disgrace.

In 1996 David Cameron was quoted as saying: "Labour's plans for minimum wages, the Social Chapter and large increases in spending and taxes would send unemployment straight back up."

It's nice to see the local Tories are as arrogant and out of touch as the Conservative leader.