"Months before the government used the budget to launch plans to tackle Motability the scheme that leases subsidised vehicles with some disability benefits a website started quietly spying on disabled drivers. Motability Check run by an unknown third party and now offline allowed members of the public to type in any number plate and (largely incorrectly) see if it was a car provided by the firm."
"From the spring, the idea that Motability was offering disabled people free BMWs and Mercedes began to spread. While the rightwing press suggested someone could get a vehicle for bed wetting and acne, blue tick accounts on X gleefully argued the only car available to claimants should be cheap, ugly and have MOTABILITY written on it, preferably in neon. By October, the narrative had gone mainstream as the supposed scam of free cars was leapt on by the Conservatives and Reform UK."
"Fast forward to this winter and Labour has set out plans to end 300m a year of tax breaks and remove premium brands from the scheme. Rachel Reeves even mimicked rightwing memes with her language when she announced it: Motability was set up to protect the most vulnerable, not to subsidise the lease on a Mercedes-Benz. Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch said this week the Tories would ban conditions such as anxiety and ADHD outright from being eligible."
Months before budget measures targeted Motability, an independent website allowed the public to check number plates and allege vehicles were supplied by the scheme. False and exaggerated claims spread that disabled claimants were receiving luxury cars, amplified by sections of the press, social accounts and political opponents. Political proposals followed to remove premium brands, cut tax breaks and restrict eligible conditions, framed as protecting public funds. Motability's customer base grew rapidly to about 815,000 amid rising disability. The controversy mixes legitimate scrutiny of a multibillion-pound organisation with misinformation that risks stigmatizing vulnerable people.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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