Some parties now say they could live with an assembly under such conditions.

ECONOMIST: A message from the people

Over the past three decades, they came in waves, working long hours in sweatshops, construction sites and assembly plants, enduring poor working conditions in order to save a little cash to remit home.

CNN: China grapples with growing labor discontent

Yet working conditions in services are often pleasanter and safer than on an assembly line, and average wages in the fastest-growing sectors, such as finance, professional and business services, education and health, are higher than in manufacturing.

ECONOMIST: Economics

Junior minister Stephen Crabb explained in a written parliamentary answer that as the Wales office is not an employer in its own right it has to honour the terms and conditions of its staff depending on their home departments (such as the National Assembly for Wales).

BBC: Wales office looks to share office accommodation