Philip Davies, a conservative backbencher has claimed in the House of Commons that ‘vulnerable’ jobseekers such as the disabled should be able to offer to work for less that NMW.

The MP for Shipley claimed that people with mental health difficulties and learning disabilities should be able to offer to work for less than the national minimum wage so they could better compete for work against candidates without disabilities.

He was quoted in a BBC article: "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," he said.

Many groups have hit back at his comments, inlcuding the Equality and Human rights Commission, which issued a statement saying:

"This is nonsense. It shows a total lack of understanding of the abilities and aspirations of Mr Davies’ disabled constituents. Is he arguing that Richard Branson, by definition, is less productive than people who don’t have dyslexia? Or that Winston Churchill was unfit to run the country because of his depression?

"Disabled people have the right to work and to be treated equally in the workplace. As long as people like Mr Davies only see the disability, not the ability, the barriers in society will remain for disabled people.