Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), comments:

‘The suggestion by Tory MP Philip Davies that disabled jobseekers might offer themselves for less than minimum wage just to get on the employment ladder is essentially advocating the discrimination people with disabilities so often experience when looking for a job. By making these comments it shows he recognises the barriers to work people with disabilities face. But rather than making allowances for this discrimination as he suggests, the Government should be working harder to tackle the problem at its source.

‘Research by NAT found that 20% of people who disclosed their HIV positive status at work had experienced discrimination and more than a third (40%) of people who had done so believed they had lost their job as a result. We must work harder to tackle disability based discrimination in employment, not normalise it..’

- Ends -

Notes to the editor:

The report ‘HIV at work’ can be found here.

For further information please contact:
Charli Scouller
Communications Manager
NAT
020 7814 6733
press@nat.org.uk
 
NAT
NAT (National AIDS Trust) is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to transforming society’s response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.
Shaping attitudes. Challenging injustice. Changing lives.
www.nat.org.uk