‘People assume we’re grifters’: disabled Britons report rise in abuse over blue badges

Disabled people who use blue badges to go about their daily lives have said they are being harassed, questioned and even assaulted, as anti-benefits rhetoric becomes more mainstream in the UK. About 3 million people in the UK now have a blue badge, including 1 in 15 adults in England . The number of people who qualify for the scheme – which allows drivers to park in more accessible spaces – has caused some to warn of misuse and fraud. The AA has called for a crackdown on people using fake or stolen blue badges as the number on the scheme grows, while the Daily Mail “names and shames” drivers taken to court for fraudulently using a badges. But the culture of suspicion has, according to the dozens of users who contacted the Guardian, given rise to a tide of abuse from members of the public towards badge holders, including accusations that they are faking their disability. One badge holder, Charlotte* from Aberdeen, has not been back to her local Co-op since her carer was assaulted after parking in a disabled bay last year. “I was helping my carer put my shopping away in my car and a lady came up to my carer and said: ‘You don’t look very disabled to me, you shouldn’t be parked there.’ My carer told her the badge is for me. …