Gabb on disabled parking spaces

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 5, Sean Gabb reportedly argued:

• That there are seriously disabled people, and these deserve some consideration.
• That only those evidently disabled should have any parking privileges.
• But that many evidently able people have acquired disabled parking badges.
• That there are too many disabled parking bays in most car parks - anyone looking at these alone would conclude that there were more seriously disabled people in the country than parents with young children.

I agree.

Driving around the recently-redesigned car park of my local Sainsbury's, I was struck by the number of disabled spaces. They stood empty, despite the gay abandon with which disabled badges have recently been issued. A quick search of their website confirms that they have 5 more disabled spaces than parent-and-child spaces.


I'm not sure whether Sainsbury's feel under legal pressure to offer these spaces, or if they've fallen victim to independent lobbying from disabled rights groups. The move certainly doesn't seem to be in response to actual customer demand.