David Cameron’s welfare minister has advocated treating those most in need differently by paying them below the national minimum wage. Lord David Freud, talking amongst friends at Conservative Party Conference, said he thought there was “a group” of disabled people who are “not worth the full wage”. Lord Freud is not the only Conservative seeking to undermine the minimum wage:

In 2012, Andrea Leadsom said that businesses with three employees and fewer should be exempt from minimum wage, as well as regulation like maternity and paternity rights. Leadsom said:

I genuinely think we do need to do more for growth . . . above all we have to focus on deregulation.” She continued: “No minimum wage; no unfair dismissal; no maternity or paternity rights; no national insurance or employer pension contributions; a flat rate of tax; no red tape.”

Leadsom also argued (£) that the “massive hurdle of regulation” was daunting and meant people were put off self-employment by the complexity of setting up a business. Tory MP Dominic Raab called for the minimum wage to be suspended for 16-21 year olds:

Why not suspend the minimum wage for 16 to 21 year olds working for small businesses, in order to give them a foot on the ladder? The talented and hard-working won’t stay on the bottom rung for long, but they must first be given the chance to work.”

Tory Philip Davies MP said that disabled people should be allowed to work for less than the minimum wage. He said it should be allowed for disabled people to be paid less than the minimum wage, arguing it was a “hindrance” to jobseekers.



Additionally, Tory MPs Christopher Chope, Peter Bone, Mark Field, Adam Afriyie, Douglas Carswell (UKIP) and David Nuttall all signed a Bill in June 2010 calling for employees to be allowed to opt out of the minimum wage.