Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Welfare Minister, Lord Freud, says disabled should be paid less than minimum wage

Dear Friends

I've signed the petition "Conservative welfare minister Lord Freud should be sacked immediatley" and wanted to ask if you would add your name too.

This campaign was instigated by my brother who has been disabled from birth and the more support we can get behind it the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more and sign the petition here:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/consevative-welfare-minister...

Thank you

P.S. Can you also take a moment to share the petition with others? It's really easy – all you need to do is forward this email or share this link on Facebook or Twitter:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/consevative-welfare-minister...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sharon on October 15, 2014 at 22:59

Everyone, regardless of physical or learning disability is entitled to a minimum wage. Those people still need to pay bills and live and have as much value to society as anyone else. Lord Freud is living on another planet. His views are disgusting.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 16, 2014 at 0:35

Yes Sharon you are right. The minimum was supposed to be the MINIMUM that you could pay anyone. The fact that it's now "the going rate" should make us pause for thought.

I'm wary of any of these twitter campaigns to sack ministers etc, even those who've sent rude selfies to journalists posing as doe eyed activists... but this guy has really taken the biscuit. Semantics or not John D, look at the law around the minimum wage, you just cannot pay someone less or the state has to pick up the tab. We just have to accept that some people have disabilities that make it so difficult for them to work that we are better off leaving them to get on with their lives as best they can, maybe even contributing to a hyper local website from the comfort of their bedroom/bathroom complexes.

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Permalink Reply by Abi on October 15, 2014 at 23:12

What's the equivalent for able-bodied people, John?

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 16, 2014 at 0:36

And the state would pick up the tab for the rest. Disgusting. If you cannot afford to employ someone then perhaps you should do the work yourself.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on October 16, 2014 at 5:44

John D, that may be the actual quote but try following through what it actually means.
I am a disabled person and I'm currently not in work but want to be. I apply for work but, despite the fact that employers can get substantial financial help to make reasonable adjustments to make it possible for me to work, I'm having no luck.
I apply for a job where an employer says they can take me on but only if I'm paid £2 an hour, or whatever, and I get the state to top up my salary, in effected picking up the bill for the money he/she won't pay me.
Whatever the text of Lord Hill's quote was, the meaning is precisely that people with a disability are in someway less entitled to a fair day's pay for the work they do and have less ability to be productive workers that able bodied people.
It exposes two rather disturbing attitudes, both from Lord Hill and the people in the room listening to him. That disabled people are not worth the same as able bodied people and the an employer is justified in treating them (in this case us, as I'm included) as second class citizens. It really harks back to the days when disabled people were considered only fit to make Christmas calendars or weave baskets.

P.S. Steve, I've signed the petition and will share it at work today.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on October 16, 2014 at 22:43

Hi Michael

Thanks for your post - unfortunately I didn't catch John D's post before he took it down which in some ways is a shame as I would like to have read it for myself. My Brother too has been unable to find employment since he was made redundant some 6 or 7 years ago despite being a great photographer, mainly of Labour movement events, which keeps his body and sole together. Not the same as meaningful employment though!