I only caught the last 20 mins of it. The presenter was more balanced than most, but still some callers were full of utter nonsense, such as the driving instructor who said that the sister of one of his students has a Golf R32 on the scheme. Yeah, right!
I didn’t hear the MP but reference was made later to him saying that you just need a letter from your GP, or some such rubbish.
Why is it impossible for these programmes to do their research and understand the basics, such as the fact that nobody ‘applies for a Motability car’ but it’s an automatic entitlement when you get awarded the higher rate mobility component of PIP. They should take issue with the eligibility criteria for PIP (which would be a fair challenge IMHO) rather than Motability, as you only get the latter if you qualify for the former, but that’s always overlooked 😡
Another thing that is never mentioned is that if the scheme is such a giveaway, why do two thirds of those eligible to join the scheme not do so? Most of them will have determined that they can do better things with their benefit, such as not feeling the need to have a brand new car. Also, the fact that if Motability was scrapped tomorrow, the tax payer wouldn’t save a penny, as all those in the scheme would suddenly start receiving £4k a year in benefits 😡
As @MFillingham correctly states, a lot of these issues are an inevitable consequence of the widening of the definition of ‘disability’, a decision that will be far harder to reverse than to implement!