Saturday 18th October

We are supposed to live in a world of free-speech, so you can say whatever you like, so long as no-one takes offence that is.  Well I take offence at almost everything the Tories say but I cannot do anything about it.  But it seems that the intention of the sayer of the “evil words” is ignored, it is the actual phrase or the way it came out that is jumped upon.  Mock indignation and anger are seized upon and apologies are demanded and even when they are forthcoming it isn’t enough – there must be resignations.  Well, for once (and actually it happens a lot) I am disagreeing with the Labour Party.

Lord Freud, who used to be employed by Labour and is now helping the Tories (not that he has changed sides, rather he just wants to help) made a blunder at the Tory conference and suggested that disabled people were not ‘worth’ the minimum wage.  He meant that many employers found it hard to justify giving a job to someone with severe disabilities, even on the minimum wage, as they were less productive than many other workers, and the suggestion had been made that maybe the government could financially incentivise employers to take them on, so that in effect the cost to the employer would be less than the minimum wage.  This seems a perfectly acceptable policy provided it is well administered and doesn’t become a gravy train for greedy employers.  Lord Freud expressed himself badly and stated that some disabled people may be willing to work for £2 an hour.

He has apologized and so has Cameron, but Labour clutching at straws insist he must go.  I think the tide is turning and Labour should now drop it.  Angela Eagle on Question time looked stupid and was out-argued by almost everyone else on the panel.  Sometimes political correctness can obscure one from the bleedin’ obvious; the benefits for a disabled person being employed, even at the low minimum wage far outweigh any stigma there may be in some people’s minds about them being treated differently by in some way subsidizing their wages.