• Minister in change of welfare reforms "some disabled people were not worth the full minimum wage"
    29 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Work and pensions minister Lord Freud suggested that disabled people were "not worth" the minimum wage, the Labour leader has disclosed. In a direct challenge to David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions, Ed Miliband revealed comments made by Lord Freud at a think-tank event in which he suggested disabled workers should only be paid £2 an hour and not the full £6.50. Lord Freud made the comments at an event held by the Resolution Foundation, a lifestyle think-tank, after being questioned on disabled people and the minimum wage by a Conservative councillor. In an angry counter-attack, Mr Cameron said: "Of course disabled people should be paid the minimum wage." The Prime Minister, whose son Ivan suffered with cerebral palsy combined with a form of epilepsy before his death in 2009 aged six, added: "I don't need lectures from anyone about looking after disabled people." Following the exchange in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will want to hear the full context of what happened and also wants to hear what Lord Freud has to say." He said there would be no exemptions to the minimum wage. A Labour source told Sky News: "These are not the words of someone who ought to be in charge of policy relating to the welfare of disabled people. Surely someone holding those views can't be in Government? If he hold those views, he should go." Lord Freud has come under fire for previous comments including saying that families hit by the so-called "bedroom tax" an "go out to work" or use a sofa bed when the children come to stay.[/QUOTE] [url]http://news.sky.com/story/1353507/lord-freud-accused-over-disabled-comments[/url]
The whole point of a welfare system is to help out does in need. I find it fantastic if a disable person actually wants to contribute to society even with disability. Why should a person who is trying to do as much as they can even thou they have disability not get [b]at least[/b] minimum wage?
Making disablist comments to this particular PM might not be such a good idea. Like really.
The people that would theoretically need the most money they could get? (Medical bills, etc.) Nah, fuck em!
Motherfucker.
[QUOTE=DemonDog;46238633]The people that would theoretically need the most money they could get? (Medical bills, etc.) Nah, fuck em![/QUOTE] Remember, this is the UK. Which afaik doesn't bury you in horrid medical bills like the USA.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46238645]Remember, this is the UK. Which afaik doesn't bury you in horrid medical bills like the USA.[/QUOTE] Here in Norway we have a very good healthcare system in place,some improvements can be made, but that's beside the point. What my point is, even thou you get most of the cost covered by our welfare system you still have to pay for some of the medical bills, doctor appointments, medicine, treatments, etc. I would guess this goes for the UK as well?
Hey, Lord Freud, in my honest opinion you aren't worth the air you are breathing. Just sayin'.
[quote]"The Prime Minister will want to hear the full context of what happened and also wants to hear what Lord Freud has to say."[/quote] Please do, I'd love to hear him defend such a vile statement.
How shit of a person do you have to be to actually view the disabled this way?
[QUOTE=Zero!;46238664]Here in Norway we have a very good healthcare system in place,some improvements can be made, but that's beside the point. What my point is, even thou you get most of the cost covered buy our welfare system you still have to pay for some of the medical bills, doctor appointments, medicine, treatments, etc. I would guess this goes for the UK as well.[/QUOTE] In the UK the only thing you pay for is the meds which is a flat £8 fee per item. You don't need to pay this if you are a student or disabled. You also get incapacity benefit which is like £70 per week or something.
It's a scary thing to think people are only worth their weight in physical labour.
[QUOTE=Zero!;46238664]Here in Norway we have a very good healthcare system in place,some improvements can be made, but that's beside the point. What my point is, even thou you get most of the cost covered buy our welfare system you still have to pay for some of the medical bills, doctor appointments, medicine, treatments, etc. I would guess this goes for the UK as well.[/QUOTE] Most healthcare apart from prescriptions, private, cosmetic, sight and dental is totally free at the point of entry with the NHS. Things like prescriptions, sight and dental have effectively got copays - the NHS subsidises some of it, and for some people will pay it all - for example diabetics get prescriptions free, glaucoma nets free sight test and such. I think mobility aids are often out of pocket, though there might be some subsidy. There's the HC1 form or something similar here, which essentially evaluates your means and says that at most you should pay £x for prescriptions a year, £y for sight, £z travelling to the doctors and such, and will effectively cap your costs if you fill it in, but is means tested - you'll only get the extra if you don't have much income. I'm no expert though, so I'm probably a bit inaccurate.
The Conservatives put [I]him[/I] in charge of welfare reform? Why not just go the whole hog and put Skeletor in charge of it.
Oh yeah, this is ok at helping to explain it. [video=youtube;qMNuxPByEW0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMNuxPByEW0&list=PLkfBg8ML-gIngk82SUbTp6Og_KkYfJ6oF&index=4&channel=thehealthcaretriage[/video] I'd disagree with the the bit about even Conservatives wanting it though, more like they want to gimp it. Also, for sheer interest, watch this guy's Singapore one. Very interesting.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;46238689]In the UK the only thing you pay for is the meds which is a flat £8 fee per item. You don't need to pay this if you are a student or disabled. You also get incapacity benefit which is like £70 per week or something.[/QUOTE] You get free meds if you are on certain benefits or if you have a low income which includes students. DLA which is being changed to PiP is split into care and mobility compensates with different rates depending on your level of disability. Mobility component: Lower £21.55 Guidance or supervision outdoors Higher £56.75 You have any other, more severe, walking difficulty Care component Lowest £21.55 Help for some of the day or with preparing cooked meals Middle £54.45 Frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night or someone to help you while on dialysis Highest £81.30 Help or supervision throughout both day and night, or you’re terminally ill this is a benefit you receive if you are in work or not, but obviously those in the high tiers will be unable to do any work. Then there is ESA which is split into 2 groups "work related" and "support" the work related group you are deemed fit to work in the near future, the support group you are deemed not fit to work in the near future and because of how hard it is to get into that group pretty much everyone in there is unable to work in the long term. People in the support group get more money but are not allowed to do any volunteer work or even go into education. People in the work related group get less money but can study/volunteer, there are 2 sub sets in the work related group "contribution based" and "income related" people on contribution based ESA don't get free prescriptions/eye test/dental care while those on income related do.
[QUOTE=Zero!;46238664]Here in Norway we have a very good healthcare system in place,some improvements can be made, but that's beside the point. What my point is, even thou you get most of the cost covered by our welfare system you still have to pay for some of the medical bills, doctor appointments, medicine, treatments, etc. I would guess this goes for the UK as well?[/QUOTE] No, our public healthcare is literally free.
UK conservatives learning from US GOP nowdays?
[QUOTE=gufu;46239283]UK conservatives learning from US GOP nowdays?[/QUOTE] Nope, just UK Conservatives being like they always have been, they just try to disguise their disgust at the lower class and disabled.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46238645]Remember, this is the UK. Which afaik doesn't bury you in horrid medical bills like the USA.[/QUOTE] Still gotta pay for a lot of stuff that a non disabled person might not have to pay as regularly tbh. For example, I know a lot of disabilities qualify for free prescriptions but some don't and at £8.05 an item that can add up very quickly.
More proof that the Tories just hate the poor and disadvantaged. [editline]15th October 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=thelurker1234;46238645]Remember, this is the UK. Which afaik doesn't bury you in horrid medical bills like the USA.[/QUOTE] Yeah but we also have pretty high taxes and most stuff is quite expensive here in comparison to the US
[QUOTE=Zero!;46238606]The whole point of a welfare system is to help out does in need. I find it fantastic if a disable person actually wants to contribute to society even with disability. Why should a person who is trying to do as much as they can even thou they have disability not get [B]at least[/B] minimum wage?[/QUOTE] Exactly. What he said was no less stupid than if he had said "Children don't work as hard so they aren't worth the full minimum wage".
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;46239398]Its called taxes, silly. There are no free lunches. There are well-balanced and fairly priced buffets (UK) And then there are expensive shit foods under the guise of "fancy" that you have to buy because its the only meal in town (USA)[/QUOTE] US spend per head for healthcare is more than the UK. So we pay taxes for our healthcare, so you do, more infact. + you have to pay more on top. So its like paying entrance to the buffet then being forced to buy food anyway. While UK here is eating the buffet and its government is making the buffet food more shitty trying to lure people to eat from the a la carte.
The choice is often whether severely disabled people are to be allowed to work for less than minimum wage or whether they won't be allowed to work at all The way to get around this is to allow companies to pay less than minimum wage, but supplement that wage with government funds. This way disabled people are able to work, be a productive member of society, etc. and also get their needs paid for. [editline]15th October 2014[/editline] I'm intimately connected with this issue. My brother is severely mentally delayed and is currently working for less than minimum wage. If they were forced to pay minimum, then he simply wouldn't be able to work and would have to sit at home all day, every day for the rest of his life. He wants to work and is proud of the money that he earns on his own. It's the one way that he can be truly independent.
I wonder how many more Tories are secretly giving him a pat on the back.
We best pay that Stephen Hawking guy below minimum wage, he's not worth the trouble.
Apparently there was a guy from the Adam Smith Institute (the institute the Thatcher got a lot of her ideas from) on a few news channels today defending what this guy said saying that some people in society (i.disabled people) are actually worth less and should be paid less. Utterly disgusting, how do people like this exist?
Political suicide.
[QUOTE=Zero!;46238606]Why should a person who is trying to do as much as they can even thou they have disability not get [B]at least[/B] minimum wage?[/QUOTE] Back in '08, when the housing market popped and we hit the recession, I was trying to find summer work. I was a high school student looking for a job everywhere I could, but despite filling out dozens of applications I never got so much as a phone call back. The reason why was simple: I was competing with a bunch of other people, most with more professional experience, for entry-level, often minimum-wage jobs. The companies I applied to could hire me, or they could hire someone with a better resume for the same price. I was able-bodied and qualified to do all the work I applied for, yet I was universally turned down. This experience isn't unique to me, I've heard other people here express the same sentiment, so what snowball's chance in hell would someone with a severe disability have had? If an employer pays exactly the same to disabled workers as non-disabled ones, then they're competing for the same positions and the non-disabled worker will win out every time. It's sheer practicality. Short of forcing employers to hire disabled workers (and good luck with [I]that[/I], existing laws against discrimination are hard enough to enforce as it is both in the US and UK), there's no way to stop them from picking the more capable worker over the disabled one for the same price. In today's job market that makes it extremely difficult for many disabled people to find work. I rented a room last year from a woman with cerebral palsy, and the only reason she was employed was because she worked for the government in a job where her physical disability didn't matter. She told me that she had thought about quitting, but couldn't, because she'd never be able to get re-hired anywhere else. For the disabled, the government should be paying for their welfare with tax dollars. Expecting that welfare to be paid by private businesses only encourages them to avoid hiring the disabled at all costs. The best option is to allow companies to pay disabled people less, but have the government step in to make up the difference, ensuring everyone's needs are met while keeping the disabled competitive in the workforce. I have no idea why this system isn't more popular.
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