THERE ISN’T a lot of parliamentary time left before the general election — seven days, in fact — and many measures popular with the public, such as ID cards and new powers for councils to deal with litter and dog fouling, are going to fall by the wayside. Among those Bills that are expected to squeeze through in time is the Disability Discrimination Bill, which has its second reading in the Commons today. The Bill extends the scope of existing disability discrimination law to apply it to transport, public authorities, landlords and private clubs, and bring sufferers of HIV, cancer and MS within its scope from the moment of diagnosis. By 2020 all trains, buses and coaches will have to be accessible to the disabled, including those with hearing or sight difficulties. Information will need to be provided in Braille for the blind; in written signs for the deaf. I wonder how “leaves on the line” translates into Braille.

As the Bill wends its way through Parliament, the Government is simultaneously embarked upon a multi million-pound advertising and direct mail campaign warning small businesses of the adjustments they must make under existing legislation which came into force last year. All managers must ensure that their services, be they hairdressing, clothes sales or hotel rooms, are accessible to the disabled, with larger signs and clear wheelchair access. “Lamppost very near to front door may cause hazard for people with impaired vision”, as the literature for cafe owners helpfully advises. As, in fact, may a table or a wall or a cup of tea.

It is hard to argue with legislation which aims to make life easier for the genuinely disabled and to stamp out discrimination, especially in the workplace. But in some areas the Government seems to be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Help someone in a wheelchair up the step into your shop? Well, of course. Write something down for a person who is deaf? Naturally. Help a blind person across the road? It is what we all do, day in day out and without thinking about it.

So little challenge is behind this wave of legislation that small business owners have had no problem complying with the new laws which came into force last autumn, according to the Federation of Small Business. The changes deemed reasonable for them to make — lowering a door handle or printing a large menu — cost an average of £70-£100. There have been only a couple of complaints to the Disability Rights Commission, both of which were easily resolved, and nobody has been prosecuted. The public, it seems, is capable of showing admirable common sense in the application of over-wieldy regulation.

So why does it need quite such heavy-handed intervention from ministers to ram these points home? Why a new Office for Disability Issues to report to the Minister for Disabled People, as proposed by the No 10 strategy unit in January? “Annual reports on progress will be presented to the Prime Minister . . .”

And of course it doesn’t stop at offices and strategies. There’s money in them there bills. Only yesterday, for instance, the Department for Transport announced a £370 million fund towards the cost of “accessibility improvements” on the rail network over the next ten years, a fifth of that money to be used to give staff “disability awareness training”. The rights of the disabled train traveller? “Readily available and accurate customer information”, availability of staff, the “right facilities” and alternative accessible provision where access to the rail network cannot be provided. Well, all public transport users would give their right arm — probably a bad example in the circumstances — for that.

Some three million people receive disability-related benefits so will be what you or I probably think of as disabled. But the Government sees disability everywhere. There are, according to an almost unreadably euphemistic report from Tony Blair’s strategy unit in January, 11 million disabled people in the UK — some 24 per cent of the adult population. Yes, one in four. So what’s wrong with them? “Disability is defined as disadvantage experienced by an individual resulting from barriers to independent living or educational, employment or other opportunities that impact on people with impairments and/or ill health.” Come again? The 11 million figure is extracted from “survey data” which the report admits may be inaccurate. It includes those with mental illness, allergies, learning difficulties, stomach or liver problems, diabetes, epilepsy, bad digestion, “bad nerves”, pain in the arms, head, shoulders, legs and feet, asthma, poor circulation and, the highest category, back or neck problems. Oh, and “other”. Which makes me disabled on at least four categories myself.

It would be risible were it not for the fact that the 11 million (or sometimes 10 million) figure is used to justify vast new interventions and therefore expense. Small business owners are told by the Government that disabled people have £80 billion of spending power. The Disability Rights Commission says it is £50 billion. £50 billion. £80 billion. A squillion billion. Take your pick. You see how random it all is? Small business owners may have taken it in their stride, but the public sector is going to be expert at squandering money on all this. Look at that £370 million for starters.

Such unstoppable momentum — and who in Parliament would dare speak out against rights for the disabled? — has a number of dangerous effects. First, it seeks to legislate for what ought to be common courtesy. Second, it encourages the victim culture whereby suddenly I’m disabled and I have my rights. Third, it perpetuates a myth that people can be “equalised”. But you can fill a whole train with Braille and it isn’t going to explain to a deaf and blind man why the train has suddenly stopped. The help and humanity of others will still be required. And fourth, it undermines the needs of the truly disabled who deserve so much more help. If I were fighting to upgrade to a better wheelchair, that £370 million would really hack me off.

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