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What would you think if you heard the Home Office was colluding with newspapers to fuel hatred against gay people? Or if affable Ken Clarke at the Ministry of Justice fed propaganda to broadcasters designed to disparage ethnic minorities? There would, quite rightly, be an outcry.

This is the issue confronting another minority - and one far more ostracised in society. Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions, desperate to force through cuts to their budgets, have demonised disabled people with smears designed to give the impression that many are cheats and scroungers.

Daily life is already tough enough for the disabled. A majority of Britons believe most people see them as being inferior. Little wonder they find it harder to get a job, are more likely to live in poverty and, increasingly, are victims of hate crime.

Typical is a case heard last week when a teenager attacked a man walking along the street, shouting: "​He'​s disabled. He deserves everything he gets."​
The charity Scope has revealed increasing antagonism towards disabled people, with two-thirds saying they have experienced recent abuse.

This dark new mood is terrifying for people who struggle to access things the rest of us take for granted: not just jobs but public transport or a meal out. It destroys confidence and makes people change behaviour;​ I know one man who barely left home after being targeted and others who always ensure they are back before dark.

This is shocking enough. But what is so scandalous is that a government department - run by ministers calling themselves compassionate Conservatives - has fuelled this disturbing new climate. It distorts data, manipulates facts and misuses statistics to feed a false media narrative that scapegoats the vulnerable.

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