Chancellor's comment was 'a bad point, badly made'

The Chancellor told the Treasury select committee: “It is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including far higher levels of participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement in the workforce, for example of disabled people - something we should be extremely proud of - may have had an impact on overall productivity measurements.”

Stephen Hodgkins, from the York Indepedent Living Network (YILN), said the Chancellor’s statement defied evidence, and was “a bad point, badly made”.

Mr Hodgkins said: “It was a bit of a surprise what he said. It’s not justified. I don’t know if he is referring to any evidence.

“There is in fact evidence that disabled people in the workplace increase productivity, and are actively sought out. Indeed GCHQ, the British Intelligence agency, goes out of its way to recruit people with autism, Asperger’s, dyslexia and other neuro diverse conditions because of the unique skills they can bring to this area of work. I think the Chancellor needs to apologise. This is a pretty disgusting thing to say about disabled people. Quite frankly it doesn’t help the inclusion for disabled people.”

Philip Davies is a director of the York Disabled Workers Co-op, off James Street, which creates a range of products including wooden garden furniture. He said all of the company’s employees and volunteers are disabled and productivity was high.

Mr Davies said: “I would disagree completely about disabled people slowing down productivity.  “We have to force our workers to take holiday here. We have no attendance or productivity issues. We have no help whatsoever from the Government and the council, even though we have asked for it. The only help we have had is from the GMB trade union and Unite. I don’t know what the Chancellor is basing this on. I don’t believe there are more disabled people in proper paid employment. There might be more people working in the voluntary sector.”