London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 10, 2025

Tory says disabled people should be paid less as 'they don't understand money'

Tory says disabled people should be paid less as 'they don't understand money'

A Tory candidate has been filmed telling a hustings event that people with learning disabilities should be paid less than minimum wage as ‘they don’t understand money’.
Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye, was met with jeers and boos by a horrified audience as she defended sharing an article that suggested paying disabled people less.

She was asked by a member of the audience to defend sharing the article on her Facebook page.

Ms Hart, who is also a councillor for Rother District Council, said: ‘They should be given the opportunity to work because it’s to do with the happiness they have about working.’

As the audience shouted ‘shameful’ and ‘they deserve a salary’, she responded: ‘Some people with learning disabilities, they don’t understand about money.’

During her response she repeated: ‘It’s about the happiness to work.’

She added: ‘It’s about having a therapeutic exemption and the article was in support of employing people with learning disabilities, that is what it was.’

A member of the audience was heard shouting: ‘I’m autistic, and I want to get paid for the work I do’ while another man shouted ‘how patronising, how dare you’.

It is understood the article being referred to was published by The Spectator in 2017 and written by Rosa Monckton, whose daughter has Downs Syndrome.

She founded a charity, Team Domenica, and in her article spoke about a ‘therapeutic exemption’ to the minimum wage, to help people with learning disabilities find and maintain work.

Jo Gracie, executive director of Team Domenica, said: ‘Rosa’s views remain separate from the charity’s and I would like to clarify that Team Domenica has not called for, or campaigned for a therapeutic exemption.

‘All of our candidates in paid work are paid the minimum wage or above.’

She said Ms Monckton is in an ‘all-day meeting today’ and unfortunately unavailable to speak but made clear ‘she has not said that people with a learning disability should be paid less because they don’t understand money’.

Metro.co.uk has also learnt that Sally-Ann Hart has been a governor at Ark Hastings Primary Academies – which support children with learning disabilities and special educational needs – for six years.

A spokesperson for the schools said: ‘All of our governors are volunteers and come from different backgrounds with different views that don’t necessarily reflect those of the school.

‘They are united in their goal of working together with our schools to ensure that all of our pupils have access to the best possible education and opportunities in life.’

People with learning disabilities, as well as charity groups, have condemned Ms Hart’s comments as ‘totally disrespectful’.

James Taylor, Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at disability equality charity, Scope, said: ‘These opinions are outdated, inexcusable, and should be consigned to history.

‘Disabled people should be paid equally for the work that they do.

‘There are a million disabled people who want to work, but are denied the opportunity. We need urgent action from the next Government to make sure disabled people can get into work, stay in work and thrive in work.’

Ciara Lawrence, Campaigns Support Officer at the learning disability charity Mencap and who has a learning disability, said: ‘People with a learning disability, like me, can work and can make really fantastic employees with the right support.

‘We have a right to be treated and paid equally – it’s the law. I’m proof that with the right support people with a learning disability can make some of the best and most committed employees.

‘Work for me is more than just a job, it has helped me increase my independence – I am married and am now saving to buy my first home.

‘We should be sending out the message to people with a learning disability that they can work and be paid equally for it.’

And Emma Kearns, Head of Enterprise and Employment at the National Autistic Society said: ‘Disabled people are as entitled to full pay as anyone else.

‘There are 700,000 autistic people in the UK and many of them are able and ready to work. Despite this, only 16% of them are in full time employment.

‘Finding work and work environments can be challenging for autistic people.

‘Conventional interviews, with unpredictable questions from a group of strangers, and the unspoken social rules in the workplace can be hugely stressful.

‘This means that businesses need to be ready to make reasonable adjustments for autistic people, but 60% of employers would worry about getting support for an autistic person wrong.

‘With more understanding, support and the right information, autistic and other disabled people can thrive and reach their full potential.’

In a statement, Ms Hart said: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, I was trying to emphasise that more needs to be done to help those with learning disabilities into the workplace and having properly paid work.

‘My comments have been taken out of context, but I do apologise if any offence or alarm has been caused.

‘The number of disabled people in work has hit a record high under this government, and I am committed to doing more to supporting those with learning disabilities into good, secure jobs.’
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
×