Drake Music, the national charity working in music, disability and technology, has described remarks made by Conservative Chancellor, Philip Hammond, on 6 December 2017 as ‘damaging and unacceptable’ and has called for the comments to be immediately withdrawn.
Hammond stated that ‘it is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including far higher levels of participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement in the workforce, for example of disabled people – something we should be extremely proud of – may have had an impact on overall productivity measurements’.
Drake Music’s Chief Executive, Carien Meijer, said:
‘Philip Hammond managed to link the UK’s low productivity rates to the employment of more disabled people in the workforce. We refute this. Mr Hammond’s comments are utterly damaging, disrespectful and simply untrue. He needs to urgently apologise and withdraw his comments.’
Disabled people lack visibility and are under-represented across the UK’s workforce, a fact highlighted in a recent paper published by Drake Music.
Header photo: Drake Music Emergent: A Music Legacy project © Drake Music
