Tory candidate says those with learning disabilities should be paid less as they 'don't understand' money

A Conservative candidate has said people with learning disabilities should be paid below the minimum wage because they “don’t understand about money.”

Sally-Ann Hart is hoping to win the marginal seat of Hastings and Rye as a Conservative candidate and made the comments in defence of an article she had shared on her Facebook page.

She was heckled during a heated local hustings event last night, after sharing an article saying employers should be able to pay people with learning difficulties below the minimum wage because some of them don’t understand about money.

Ms Hart said she wants to help people with learning disabilities get into work as it's about the happiness they get for working.

Her comments sparked boos and yells of ‘rubbish’, ‘bigot’ and ‘you are a disgrace’ from the audience listening to her.

Defending her comments in front of the audience she said: "It is about having a therapeutic exemption and the article was in support of employing people with learning disabilities."

An audience member shouted: “I’m autistic and I want to get paid for the work I do”.

The article’s author has a disabled daughter. The article said if an employer will employ someone because they don’t have to pay the minimum wage, it’s better for that disabled person to be given the job than not.

Only 20 per cent of people with learning disabilities are in work compared to over 75 per cent of the general population.

In response, Ciara Lawrence who has a learning disability and lives independantly at home, has worked for the charity Mencap for almost two decades.

Ciara Lawrence said “I think that everybody with a learning disability should have the right to a job and an equal day’s pay for what they do." Mencap’s head of policy Dan Scorer called the Conservative candidate’s idea of paying less than the minimum wage “against the law”.

“The candidate rightly has been called up by people in the audience on what she was saying.”

Mencap is calling on everyone to break down the barriers stopping people with disabilities getting into work by creating more inclusive jobs and workplaces.