Government and Media Rhetoric Has Driven Rising Discrimination Against Disabled People Since the Late 1990s
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mik-scarlet. "I had an amazing experience as a disabled person at school in the 70s. Since then, discrimination has got far worse | Mik Scarlet | The Guardian." September 7, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author, who has lived as a disabled person since the 1970s, argues that things have gotten much worse for disabled people in recent decades. He blames government policies and media coverage that falsely painted disabled people as 'benefit scroungers,' which he says led to real violence against him and his family, even though the benefits system actually helps disabled people work and contribute to society.
Conclusion
Attitudes toward and treatment of disabled people in the UK have significantly worsened since the late 1990s/early 2000s due to toxic political and media narratives about 'benefit scrounging,' reversing decades of progress made since the 1970s.
Premises
- In the 1970s-1990s, societal attitudes and institutional support for disabled people progressively improved, moving from 'let them try' to 'what do they want us to do?'
- Starting around 1998, successive governments (beginning with Blair's) implemented benefit cuts that scapegoated disabled people, introducing narratives about 'free cars, free houses and benefits'
- The author experienced escalating violence and harassment correlating with this shift, including vandalism of his vehicle, physical attacks on himself and his wife, threats, and being called a 'scrounger'
- Common claims about disability benefits (e.g., that Motability provides free cars, or that PIP is an out-of-work benefit) are factually false mischaracterizations
- These false narratives about widespread benefit fraud have become embedded in the national psyche and continue to be perpetuated by government and media
- Support systems like PIP, Motability, and Access to Work actually enable disabled people to work and contribute economically, with research showing positive economic returns (e.g., £1.48 return per £1 spent on Access to Work)
- Accessible, inclusive design (adaptations originally made for disabled people) benefits society as a whole
Assumptions
- The author's personal experiences are representative of broader societal trends affecting disabled people generally
- Political rhetoric and media narratives are primary causal factors in shaping public attitudes and behavior toward disabled people, rather than other social/economic factors
- The correlation between benefit cuts/rhetoric and increased violence/hostility implies causation
- Readers will trust the author's characterization of benefits systems as accurate without needing independent verification
- Public attitudes in the 1970s-90s were more uniformly positive than the current era, without significant regional or class variation