In 2003 the Labour government supported allowing some companies to pay people with mental health problems £4-a-day to man assembly lines. A government paper from when Patricia Hewitt was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, which argues that that some so-called “therapeutic work” should not qualify for the minimum wage. It proposed an organisation which “runs a facility for mental health out patients, who do various activities such as packing and assembly“ can “pay varying amounts up to £20 per week“, so long as “if [workers] do not attend there are no sanctions”. The government paper concludes that under such an arrangement “there would probably not be an employer/worker relationship” and therefore “the national minimum wage would not apply“. Ironically the likes of Scope, Mencap and the TUC were consulted during the preparation of the document. Ed Miliband today called for the resignation of a government minister for suggesting something not nearly as draconian…