latest news in hindi: Minimum wage 'hinders disabled'

Mr Davies said the minimum wage was often a "hindrance" to people with disabilities

A Conservative MP has suggested "vulnerable" jobseekers - including disabled people - should be allowed to work for less than the minimum wage.

Backbencher Philip Davies said firms were likely to favour someone without disabilities if they had to pay everyone the same basic salary.

He said politicians should "not stand in the way" of anyone willing to work for lower pay in such a situation.

But mental health charity Mind said it was a "preposterous suggestion".

Mr Davies, the MP for Shipley, made the comments during a debate in the Commons over the minimum wage and employment opportunities.

The minimum wage is currently £5.93 an hour for those over 21, £4.92 for those aged between 18 and 20 and £3.64 for 16 and 17 year olds.

The MP claimed the most vulnerable, including those with learning disabilities and mental health problems, were disadvantaged in their search for work because they had to compete with candidates without disabilities and could not offer to accept lower pay.

“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”

Philip Davies Tory MP for Shipley

They were desperate to work but continually found the "door was being closed in their face", he argued.

He said he had talked to people with mental health problems during a visit to a surgery run by the charity Mind, and they had "accepted" that they would be passed over in favour of other jobseekers in such a situation.

"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 and that was doing those people a huge disservice," he said.

He continued: "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."

Mr Davies was immediately challenged over his remarks by fellow Tory MP Edward Leigh who told him: "Forget the fact there is a minimum wage for a moment. Why actually should a disabled person work for less than £5.93 an hour. It is not a lot of money, is it?"

He replied that, irrespective of whether it was "right or wrong", that was "just the real world that we operate in".

"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," he added.

He added that he was concerned that obligations on employers to pay the minimum wage was preventing people from "being given the opportunity to get the first rung on the employment ladder".

But Mind spokesman Sophie Corlett said: "It is a preposterous suggestion that someone who has a mental health problem should be prepared to accept less than minimum wage to get their foot in the door with an employer.

"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 employers should be educated about mental health problems, adding that more than 50% of people with mental health problems lived on weekly household income of less than £200.

The minimum wage will increase to £6.08 for workers aged 21 and over from October and to £4.98 and £3.68 respectively for younger workers.

Mr Davies, who is on the right of the Conservative Party, has a history of defying his party leadership on a range of issues issues including Europe, foreign aid and sentencing.

This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.