How Motability cuts went from a rightwing online campaign to Rachel Reeves's budget

"A decade ago, Rachel Reeves was pictured with a disabled constituent, congratulating him on being given the keys to freedom afforded by a Motability vehicle. Since then, Reeves now Britain's chancellor has barely mentioned the scheme that leases 300,000 cars a year to people with mobility problems, aside from criticising Tory cuts affecting its users. Nor did it crop up in Labour's manifesto, which promised to put disabled people's views and voices at the heart of all we do."

"But late last year, the idea that Motability was offering disabled people free BMWs and Mercedes became a repeated rightwing talking point fuelled by social media accounts on Elon Musk's X. In fact, the cars are funded by people's disability benefit payments, topped up with their own contributions. From there, articles began to spring up in the tabloid press reproducing social media memes calling for Motability vehicles to be made more ugly,"

Motability leases about 300,000 cars annually to people with mobility problems, funded largely by disability benefit payments plus personal contributions. Social media claims suggested disabled people received free BMWs and Mercedes, prompting tabloid repetition and political attention from figures like Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage. Treasury measures in the budget ended roughly £300m a year of tax breaks, imposed insurance premium tax and VAT on advance payments for higher-value cars, and required the removal of premium brands from the scheme. The changes proceeded without prior consultation and were defended as protecting public funds rather than subsidising luxury leases.

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