It’s time for taxpayers to open their wallets nice and wide once again: the Motability Scheme is now offering new two-seater sports cars. The perfect ride for those suffering from ‘tennis elbow’…
This month, Motability rolled out a range of Mazdas available to those on PIP or disability allowance, including three types of the 2-seat convertible Mazda MX-5. Some of these cars do 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds…
Meanwhile, there’s no sign of a rethink on who qualifies and Reeves reportedly won’t be scrapping VAT or insurance premium tax exemptions for the scheme until autumn 2026 at the earliest. By which point she hopes to have grown enough of a spine to do something – anything – about this…
Reeves is exploring measures to reduce the extremely generous treatment of the Motability scheme at the Winter Budget. After a year of tenacious campaigning including Guido’s revelation that people with tennis elbow were getting free luxury cars…
The Treasury is exploring cuts to £1 billion worth of exemptions to VAT and insurance taxation granted to cars under the scheme. It is also considering reducing the availability of luxury car brands like BMWs on the scheme…
Motability costs the taxpayer £2.8 billion annually and is being routinely promoted on social media as a cheap way to get around if you are on PIP. The Times has been briefed that Reeves would go no further than the above reforms for fear of angering backbenchers again. Eligibility should obviously be restricted to people with serious disabilities who can’t use a normal vehicle properly…
After Guido revealed thousands have been handed free luxury cars for ailments including “tennis elbow,” “frozen shoulder,” and “failure to thrive,” outrage has rippled through politicians, the press and taxpayers alike. Labour is still refusing to review the scheme…
Nigel Fletcher, CEO of the Motability Foundation, has now complained about media coverage of the scheme as “hostile” and “harmful,” grumbling about an “unprecedented level of misinformed, misrepresented and often hostile” narrative. According to Fletcher, the cars are “not a luxury”…
Now, a website called Motability Check has surfaced – letting users plug in number plates to see if a car’s funded by the taxpayer. A simple tool for a bit of long-overdue transparency…
Dignitaries swiftly joined the meltdown. Work and Pensions Minister Baroness Sherlock claimed she was “shocked” by the site’s existence, while crossbench peer Baroness Grey-Thompson described it as “terrifying” and “despicable,” declaring it “crosses a line to incitement”. The pearl-clutching continues, but the scandal rolls on…
After Guido revealed 589,550 people with laughable ‘ailments’ like ‘tennis elbow’ and ‘constipation’ have been handed taxpayer-funded luxury cars, the Motability Scheme has caused outrage from the media and politicians. Now Labour has confirmed they will not review the scheme. A scandal…
Just last week, work and pensions minister Baroness Watkins told the Lords the government would “be happy to have a look” at the scheme. Now, Stephen Timms has dashed those hopes in answer to a written parliamentary question, confirming Labour will not be reviewing it. His blunt words: “There are no plans to review the Scheme’s qualifying benefits.” How long will that hold…
Badenoch’s speech on welfare reform is targeting the Motability scheme:
“We are going to have to draw a line in the sand about which conditions the state gives out support for. Food intolerances are a medical fact, but they’re not something we should be handing out new cars for. This is not a joke. This actually happens… The Motability scheme is a perfect example of what’s going wrong with the current system. It was initially set up to help disabled people get around. Now 90% of its cars now have no adaptations whatsoever. That’s not what it was designed for. People are qualifying with conditions like drug misuse, ADHD, obesity. The assessment system surely can’t have been designed with that intention and we cannot allow it to continue for a moment longer.”
Kemi is following Guido’s reporting last week into the comical list of ailments for which PIP claimants get a free car according to official documents. Tennis elbow got a mention…
The Tory leader pointed to analysis from the Centre for Social Justice which shows restricting benefits to those with more severe mental health conditions could save £9 billion every year. One in five cars sold in the UK is now a Motability car. A sham scheme…
Yesterday Guido revealed taxpayers are footing a £600 million bill for free cars for people with “food intolerance”, “stress”, “failure to thrive” and “tennis elbow”. There are currently 589,550 claimants on the Motability Scheme…
The story saw a lot of pick up in the media as people were outraged at these bogus benefit claims. As usual, Labour is doing nothing to solve this ongoing scandal…
In a debate on welfare reform in the House of Lords last night, Labour confirmed the now gutted welfare bill will not reform the Motability Scheme. Asked whether the Government will review the scheme, work and pensions minister Baroness Watkins said:
“On the Motability scheme, just for clarity, nothing in the proposals in the Bill now or in earlier incarnations affects the mobility element of PIP, only the daily living allowance, but I take her broader point and I will be happy to have a look at that.”
Kicking it into the long grass…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
