(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister, has offered a "full and unreserved apology" after Ed Miliband revealed that he told a fringe meeting at the recent Tory conference that some disabled people were "not worth" the minimum wage.
As the Labour party called for Freud to be sacked after he suggested that some people with mental disabilities could be paid as little as £2 an hour, the minister said it was "offensive" to suggest that anyone should be paid less than the minimum wage.
In a statement, Freud said: "I would like to offer a full and unreserved apology. I was foolish to accept the premise of the question. To be clear, all disabled people should be paid at least the minimum wage, without exception, and I accept that it is offensive to suggest anything else.
"I care passionately about disabled people. I am proud to have played a full part in a government that is fully committed to helping disabled people overcome the many barriers they face in finding employment. I am profoundly sorry for any offence I have caused to any disabled people."
Catalan parties urge snap poll over independence
BARCELONA: Opposition parties in Catalonia yesterday demanded a snap regional election after pressure from Madrid forced leaders to water down plans for a vote on independence from Spain. The region's conservative president, Artur Mas, said on Tuesday the non-binding ballot called for November could not go ahead as planned - a move hailed by Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as a "triumph for democracy".
Faced with a legal challenge from Madrid, Mas vowed instead to hold a symbolic vote on that date without a formal electoral roll, which would fall short of a full referendum. That frustrated some of the left-wing pro-independence groups with whom he had joined forces in his drive for an independence vote. "Reconsider your position, restore unity, and if you cannot do that, call an election," Joan Herrera, leader of the pro-referendum ecologist party ICV, said in parliament.
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