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Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

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  • Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...-suggests.html


    People with disabilities should be paid less than the minimum wage, a Conservative MP suggested yesterday, prompting angry criticism from rights campaigners.

    By Tim Ross, and Robert Winnett


    7:30AM BST 18 Jun 2011


    Philip Davies, the MP for Shipley, claimed the disabled or those with mental health problems were at a disadvantage because they could not offer to work for less money.

    Relaxing the law would help some to compete more effectively for jobs in “the real world” in which they are “by definition” less productive than those without disabilities, he claimed.

    The remarks stunned MPs on all sides and forced Downing Street to distance the Prime Minister from Mr Davies. Charities and equality campaigners condemned the suggestion as “outrageous”. During a Parliamentary debate, Mr Davies told MPs that the minimum wage of £5.93 per hour meant disabled people who wanted to work found the door being “closed in their face”.

    “The people who are most disadvantaged by the national minimum wage are the most vulnerable in society,” he said. “My concern about it is it prevents those people from being given the opportunity to get the first rung on the employment ladder.”

    He said that, during a visit to the charity Mind, he had spoken to people with mental health problems who viewed it as “inevitable” that someone without such difficulties would be offered a job ahead of them.

    Sophie Corlett, of Mind, described Mr Davies’s suggestion as “preposterous”. “People with mental health problems should not be considered a source of cheap labour and should be paid appropriately for the jobs they do,” she said.

    Dame Anne Begg, the Labour MP who heads the Commons work and pensions committee and uses a wheelchair, said Mr Davies’s remarks were “outrageous and unacceptable”.

    A Downing Street spokesman added: “The Government would reject any suggestion for disabled people to be able to opt out of the national minimum wage. The aim of the national minimum wage is to establish fairness in the workplace and one of its key principles is to protect the most vulnerable workers.”

    The MP was warned that he would be questioned over the remarks by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

    A commission spokesman asked: “Is he arguing that Richard Branson, by definition, is less productive than people who don’t have dyslexia? Or that Winston Churchill was unfit to run the country because of his depression?”

    Mr Davies appeared unrepentant, however, blaming criticism running on the Twitter microblogging website on “Left-wing hysteria”. He later told BBC Radio 4 that disabled people should be allowed to “prove themselves” before moving up the pay scale.





    CJ
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

    Some people need to put their brains in gear before they motormouth!!
    CAVEAT LECTOR

    This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

    You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
    Cohen, Herb


    There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
    gets his brain a-going.
    Phelps, C. C.


    "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
    The last words of John Sedgwick

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

      dose that mean that most MP's should be paid less
      Bought some tablets today to build my strength up .. cant get the bloody lid off.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

        A classic example of comments taken out of context. What Mr Davies obviously meant and indeed actually says, is that he believes disabled people should be able to voluntarily "opt out" of the minimum wage in order that they may compete for work. He has not said that disabled workers should be paid less at all, only that, if they so choose, they shold be able to offer their time to an employer for less than the national minimum wage.

        Perhaps these are foolish comments, but they are hardly worthy of these headlines. Is it a slow news day?

        The minimum wage is a Labour invention and another example of their "one size fits all" approach to Government.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

          Cetelco,

          He may of said that, but that still does not mean what he is saying is a good idea.

          It is a bad one and where will that lead us too next, The DDA has already been replaced with the inferior Equalities Act.

          This would be abused by employers in that once they take on someone with less than the MW it would very hard once they have proved there worth to get back to the rate of everyone else.

          How many employers that take on someone on the minimum wage give them an increase above MW not many.

          It should be the job of this Government to teach employers the benefits of employing a disabled person.

          Everyone is equal and that has to be the case in employment

          Where will it end, next we will here that the disabled should only get benefits on a pro rata basis.
          If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments.

          sigpic

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

            If his idea went ahead, in the interests of equality able bodied people should be able to opt out too in order that they can compete fairly with disabled people.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

              Casper,

              And the chances of the able bodied doing that........... ziltch
              If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments.

              sigpic

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                Isnt this only the same as has been suggested to unemployed people already - offer to work as a volunteer or on a weeks free trial to show your capabilities and prove you can do the job? In fact it's suggested in many places as a step into employment and there's been no major uproar. So what is the difference here?
                Is no longer here

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                  The Easter Europeans will undercut them all and get the jobs (we don't apparently want to do ) anyway.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                    Employment Opportunities Bill?
                    Second reading, Friday 17th June.
                    CAVEAT LECTOR

                    This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

                    You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
                    Cohen, Herb


                    There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
                    gets his brain a-going.
                    Phelps, C. C.


                    "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
                    The last words of John Sedgwick

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                      Originally posted by WendyB View Post
                      Isnt this only the same as has been suggested to unemployed people already - offer to work as a volunteer or on a weeks free trial to show your capabilities and prove you can do the job? In fact it's suggested in many places as a step into employment and there's been no major uproar. So what is the difference here?
                      The difference here is that he didn't suggest the above. A couple of weeks trial to show they can do the job is only like a probationary period in any job. The minimum wage is there for a reason. Giving people the option to opt out of it and work for less would in my opinion be the short end of the straw and would in all probability lead to further changes.

                      The idea won't get anywhere anyway, but makes you question the intelligence of some MP's.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                        Originally posted by charitynjw View Post
                        Some people need to put their brains in gear before they motormouth!!
                        I believe Mr Davies may just have applied for a substantial pay cut.

                        Personally, though. I'd not wish to employ him even as a bicycle rack.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                          Originally posted by Cetelco View Post
                          The minimum wage is a Labour invention and another example of their "one size fits all" approach to Government.
                          It isn't anything of the sort, as the first national minimum wage legislation was enacted in 1824 in New Zealand - link.

                          In the UK, the Trade Boards Act 1909 was introduced to Parliament by that infamous socialist, Winston Churchill whilst, in the American colonies, it was not until 1938 that the notorious communist, "President" Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced Federal Statutory Minimum Wages.

                          I'd suggest that you read a little more here, but you'll doubtless claim it was written by a Bolshevik.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Disabled should work for less than minimum wage, Tory MP suggests

                            Originally posted by Caspar View Post
                            The difference here is that he didn't suggest the above. A couple of weeks trial to show they can do the job is only like a probationary period in any job. The minimum wage is there for a reason. Giving people the option to opt out of it and work for less would in my opinion be the short end of the straw and would in all probability lead to further changes.

                            The idea won't get anywhere anyway, but makes you question the intelligence of some MP's.
                            As well as wonder if those MPs are only suitable to be employed as door stops or scare-crows.
                            Last edited by CleverClogs; 23rd June 2011, 03:43:AM. Reason: clarification

                            Comment

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