The Telegraph's Failed Attempt to Trigger a Culture War Between Graduates and Tesco Workers

The truth is that both groups are victims of a deeply rigged economy, writes The Bear

You can always count on The Telegraph to deliver headlines so profoundly detached from reality they feel like satire. “Middle-income graduates radicalised by the rocketing minimum wage” is their latest offering, a piece so out of touch it’s practically begging to be framed and hung in the Museum of Misguided Tantrums.

The outrage this week? Middle-class graduates with respectable Russell Group university degrees are finding themselves earning barely more than the rabble working minimum-wage jobs. And by “rabble”, I mean the people who pour their lattes, mop their office floors, and keep hospitals running. It’s a tale of woe, filled with the tearful gripes of young professionals who feel betrayed by a world that promised them an easy glide into comfortable salaries and property portfolios, only to be left standing awkwardly next to Asda cashiers earning nearly the same.

One thing to clarify right from the get-go is that the minimum wage is not the enemy here. It was first introduced in 1999 under New Labour to make sure that the lowest-paid workers could live with at least some degree of dignity. And in the UK, it’s done exactly that, lifting millions out of poverty and reducing inequality. Yes, the minimum wage has risen sharply, and that’s because it needed to, because the people doing hard, necessary jobs weren’t being paid enough to live on.

But apparently, this progress is cause for alarm. The Telegraph wrings its hands over “wage compression,” where graduate salaries stagnate while wages at the bottom rise. The problem, they say, is that the gap is closing between those who went to university and those who didn’t, and that’s simply too much for our fragile social hierarchy to bear.

The reality, though? Minimum-wage workers aren’t being paid “too much”. Graduate salaries have simply failed to keep pace either with inflation, productivity, or the actual cost of living.

If you’re furious that a Tesco employee earns £25,000, direct your rage at the CEOs and policymakers who have spent decades suppressing wage growth for everyone except themselves.