CABINET ministers have wined and dined the boss of a company accused of dodging the minimum wage rise by slashing workers’ bonuses, the Morning Star can reveal.

Samworth Brothers, which supplies supermarkets with products like Ginsters pasties and Soreen malt loaf, has been named and shamed in Parliament for cutting night shifts, Sundays and overtime to compensate for the rise in the minimum wage.

The flagship policy of Chancellor George Osborne’s summer Budget was supposed to see Britain’s lowest paid workers get a wage boost from £6.70-an-hour to £7.20-an-hour from April.

Instead staff at companies such as Samworth Brothers and B&Q have seen their take-home pay fall as result of cuts to bonuses.

But that hasn’t deterred Tory ministers from holding cosy dinner dates with the bosses undermining their own policy, such as Samworth Brothers director Mark Samworth.

Mr Samworth is among rich business figures who attended one of the Tories’ “leaders’ group meals” between January and March, documents released by the Conservative Party reveal.

The “cash-for-access” meals are for the Tories’ richest donors, requiring a minimum payment of £50,000-a-year to the party.

Mr Samworth has donated £685,000 to the Tories since 2010, including £100,000 before last year’s general election.

That bought him the chance to rub shoulders with Mr Osborne, Prime Minister David Cameron, Business Secretary Mr Javid, or one of eight other top Tories who attended the recent dinners.

Neither the Treasury or the Business Department would confirm whether Mr Osborne or Mr Javid — the ministers responsible for the National Living Wage — met Mr Samworth or discussed the policy. 

But Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth told the Star: “Instead of hobnobbing at fancy dinners with the Tory elite, Samworth’s bosses should be meeting workers and trade unions to discuss a fair deal on pay and conditions.

“What’s more, I hope Tory Cabinet members at this soiree reminded Samworth’s bosses that the national living wage should not be an excuse to undermine terms and conditions and overtime agreements for Samworth staff, effectively docking their pay.”

However a spokesperson from Samworth Brothers said: “The donations made by Mark Samworth are made in an entirely personal capacity and have nothing to do with the company.  

“Two years ago, after feedback from our employees, we began a benchmarking and staff consultation exercise which has resulted in a new, more equitable pay structure.   The majority of our staff are better off as a result of these changes and we are investing significant additional sums in the pay bill over the next few years to make this happen. 

“Our standard hourly rates are well above the National Living Wage and we have a strong additional benefits package.  We have undertaken an extremely extensive consultation and dialogue with our staff over a number of months on this topic.”

Two directors of Lycamobile, which owes at least £9.5 million in unpaid corporation tax to the Treasury, also attended the dinners.

The Star exposes the close relations between bosses flouting government policy and senior Tories a day after new details of party funding were revealed.

Figures for the Electoral Commission showed that over half of the £6,769,379.62 raised by the Tories in the first quarter of this year came from members of its elite “leaders’ group.”