Despite the laws which exist against discrimination against the disabled, there are not that many places where disabled workers can find work easily. That is why the government-owned "Remploy", which has 83 factories around the country, especially geared to employ 6,000 disabled workers, is an utter necessity and in fact could do with expanding!

But instead, the managers of these factories are being pressurised to make cost-savings. Government ministers say that the £2,000 per year subsidy per worker is "unsustainable"!

Yes, the very same ministers who say that the number of unemployed on disability benefit is "unsustainable"!

This is one of the most crass and disgusting examples of political hypocrisy they have displayed for a long time! They say they want the disabled in work - but at the same time they are cutting the (very few) jobs where they could work! Of course they would much prefer these workers to be available for exploitation by private sector bosses, who will then get the government subsidy instead. And here we mean the "subsidy" which allows such bosses to get away with paying ridiculously low wages - also known as "tax credits" and "in-work benefits"...

Who would have believed that it would come to the point where Labour ministers would be arguing for cutting one of the very few remaining examples of a publicly-minded, publicly funded, useful, government employment and production scheme? But indeed, 1,600 jobs are to be cut and 17 plants closed!

For some time, the Remploy workers, supported by the GMB union, have been fighting against these plans. There should be no room at all for compromise and certainly not on the spurious grounds of "profitability"! Not only is there every reason for these jobs and factories to be retained, but there is even more reason for Remploy to be expanded. These factories make useful goods - like school furniture and protective workware - and why not even more? The Remploy workers should be confident of getting all the support we can muster!