We have to hope that enough MPs have the guts to challenge the Government's decision on this. The coalition needs to re-think. Once again this Government demonstrates its deaf ear to public opinion. Do they no longer have sensible civil servants saying 'That would be very brave, Minister', or are they just ignoring them?
The argument seems to be that the Government should no longer subsidise Remploy at up to £25k per place. On the same day that the Remploy announcement was made, I heard Government Ministers defending the U.K.'s aid spend of £7,800,000,000. This is a categorically different level of expenditure compared to the £68,000,000 invested in at least 2000 jobs at Remploy. It's not so much the money, it's the priorities that the spending decisions expose that is the real issue. The coalition just doesn't get people with disabilities just as they don't get those communities that were devastated by the de-industrialisation of the 1980's. They have to understand that they will have to take the country with them if we are not to be any further divided,have any further inequality.
The solution to the Remploy position is simple. Treat the existing workforce, the people, as the first priority and put arrangements in place for them. Some of the Remploy factories could be turned around by more innovative management. Some settings would benefit from a partnership with other companies. Some individuals could be supported in more open employment. The task would be to get every existing member of staff into an appropriate setting. The transition would take a lot longer but everyone would recognise that the Government is putting people first. Just as it puts its overseas aid commitments first.
If the Government doesn't u-turn on this then we have another issue, like the NHS bill, that will lose them the next election.
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