In reply to Philip:
Pointless apology in the sense that he'd get no credit for it? I guess it had to be made for purely political reasons i.e. so the other side couldn't say he refused to apologise.
So was he really saying... ?
A. Some disabled people aren't worth the minimum wage.
or
B. Some disabled people can't achieve a level of productivity that an employer would be able or willing to pay the minimum wage.
I can sort of see how you might say A when you mean B. Should we give him the benefit of the doubt?