PHIL FRIEND

How disabled people are turned from citizens into burdens—and why that matters. When I first read Jeremy Clarkson’s suggestion that people receiving benefits should send weekly thank-you messages to taxpayers, I thought it was another deliberately outrageous column. The idea was that a claimant should be given the email address of someone who gets up and goes to work each day, so that they could express their gratitude. It was offensive, certainly. But it was also easy to dis

What the Motability Scheme changed — and why the Budget risks turning the clock back My driving life began in a three-wheeled blue “Noddy car”. It had the turning circle of a shopping trolley and the crash protection of a biscuit tin. More than that, it announced “this driver is disabled” to the world at full volume. It got me around, but it never let me forget I was different. Then the Motability Scheme arrived — and everything changed. Suddenly, disabled people could drive