GREAT Britain? More like Hate Britain, as John Crick’s and my fellow disabled reader Alex Telford’s letters (HAS, Jan 15) attest.

Cabinet minister Philip Hammond and Tory-supporting journalist Toby Young have both made offensive, anti-disability comments, while Darlington Borough Council is just one example of penny-pinching bureaucracy penalising blue badge holders.

No wonder disability and other hate crimes are increasing when some authority figures set heartless examples.

Alec citing benefits denied to over pension age disabled people, reminded me of my late mum’s plight.

Attempts to lessen her houseboundedness (she could only go out wheelchair-assisted) were often thwarted as her friend who drove her around could rarely park in disabled spaces due to selfish non-disabled drivers hogging the spots. This rendered mum’s blue badge mostly redundant.

Bus journeys were often a problem too.

She died aged 77 from cancer, in a ‘caring’ society which made her wait till she was 75-years-old for a free television licence.

Yours, part of an endangered species.

Steve Lawson, Tow Law