Tory MP Philip Davies: disabled people could work for less pay

From The Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/17/tory-philip-davies-disabled-people-work

Shipley MP describes criticism of his remarks that disabled people could work for less than minimum wage as 'leftwing hysteria'

Allegra Stratton, political correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 June 2011

A Tory MP has sparked anger by suggesting that disabled people should work for less than the minimum wage to increase their chances of being taken on by employers.

Philip Davies told the Commons: "If an employer is looking at two candidates, one who has got disabilities and one who hasn't, and they have got to pay them both the same rate, I invite you to guess which one the employer is more likely to take on.

"Given that some of those people with a learning disability clearly, by definition, cannot be as productive in their work as somebody who has not got a disability of that nature, then it was inevitable that, given the employer was going to have to pay them both the same, they were going to take on the person who was going to be more productive, less of a risk.

"My view is that for some people the national minimum wage may be more of a hindrance than a help.

"If those people who consider it is being a hindrance to them, and in my view that's some of the most vulnerable people in society, if they feel that for a short period of time, taking a lower rate of pay to help them get on their first rung of the jobs ladder, if they judge that that is a good thing, I don't see why we should be standing in their way."

Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/17/tory-philip-davies-disabled-people-work