LABOUR confirmed yesterday that it would give security guards at the party’s northern head office backdated earnings after it emerged they were being paid less than the living wage.

The Sun wrote that the party employed the guards through Axis Security to patrol its Newcastle base at the start of the election campaign, but the money paid for the contract left the workers on £7.65 an hour.

The living wage, currently £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere, has been a key issue in the campaign, with all three parties backing calls for its widespread adoption.

Labour said it would use government contracts to promote the living wage, with tax rebates for businesses which signed up to pay it in the first year of a Labour government.

It also said that it would also require publicly listed companies to report on whether or not they paid the living wage.