(British) Tory MP says disabled people could work for less than minimum wage

[lagatta]

Real headbanger this one, and a strong candidate for arsehole of the day:

quote:

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

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

[Boom Boom]

quote:

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.

Unbelievable. Thank goodness we have strong advocates for the disabled here in Canada - there's a TV advertisement that plays every night on the abilities that the disabled have. I'm a Life member of the Canadian Hearing Society which has been an advocate for the hearing disabled for over 60 years, and which works to place hearing disabled individuals in the workforce. I don't know any disabled individuals who would put up for an instant with the idea of working for less.

[sparqui]

Most people would be ashamed to speak such a bigoted rationalization out loud. Using discrimination to critique a minimum wage reveals this idiot's 18th century world view. What next, slavery - also good for the economy? 

[Debra]

This is what sets the new order apart though.. is their complete and utter lack of shame.

[Croghan27]

Most people would be ashamed to speak such a bigoted rationalization out loud. Using discrimination to critique a minimum wage reveals this idiot's 18th century world view. What next, slavery - also good for the economy? 

Just read the other day that abolution of a minimum wage would immediately result in full employment. 

[kuri]

I don't know any disabled individuals who would put up for an instant with the idea of working for less.

Nor should they. If the disability is something that actually factors into the safety or real quality of the job, then it's for the best if the disabled person isn't hired. (This won't often be a factor, but for some physically demanding jobs, such as firefighters or police officers it would be, or if the job requires a driver's license that the disability doesn't permit.) If the disability doesn't factor into the duties of the job, then it's just prejudice operating and no amount of underpayment will correct for that (if anything, it makes the prejudice worse by explicitly categorizing a disability as a liability regardless of whether it's at all relevant to the job duties).

[Mandos]

If you read a lot of econ blogs you are not surprised by this sort of thinking.  It is fervently believed that the definition of "unemployment" is equivalent to a preference for leisure.  If everyone HAD to work for their true value, there would be a job for everyone...

Are there no workhouses?