Travel boss slams govt for 'making disabled people scapegoats'
A "socially conscious" travel boss has accused the government of making disabled people "scapegoats" ahead of the Spring Statement this month.
With the health and disability-related benefits bill projected to rise to £100 billion over the next four years, pressure is mounting on the government to reduce the bill now.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is currently identifying where to cut the bill, which currently stands at around £65 billion a year.
But Limitless Travel founder Angus Drummond says disabled people have been made “scapegoats” during the ongoing debate about the welfare system.
"I’m a socially conscious person and a socialist at heart, but I am disappointed that the agenda around disability hasn’t been prioritised by the Labour government,” he told TTG.
“Disabled people have been made scapegoats. Because the prime minister has said the benefits system will be cut, it just reinforces the narrative that disabled people are second rate to non-disabled and that they live off benefits and that disabled people don’t deserve the same level of service.”
Drummond, who won The John Hays Entrepreneur Award at the Travel Industry Awards 2024, set up the disabled-friendly travel specialist after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy aged 23.
“There are millions of disabled people in the UK that need to go on holiday, they need it more than anybody else,” Drummond continued. “And unless the industry starts taking this problem seriously nothing is going to change.”
Highlighting how people got behind the Black Lives Matter movement, he stressed the disability movement remains “a massively vulnerable group in society” as “they don’t have a voice”.
Drummond believes the Labour government has not prioritised accessibility since it took power in July. “I don’t think anything near enough has been done and there needs to be a massive shift [in mentality],” he added.
His comments come as the Birmingham-based travel specialist celebrates its 10th anniversary with 10 fundraising events to support the Muscular Dystrophy Support Centre.
’We’ve worked really hard’
Reflecting on the past decade, Drummond says that despite the many challenges he faced – including setting up a travel business without having any prior experience – he’s proud of Limitless Travel, its 80-people team and values.
“When I set out Limitless Travel my vision wasn’t just to revolutionise travel for people with disabilities, it was also to create an amazing company full of individuals who shared my belief and vision and wanted to deliver an incredible service to our guests,” he said.
"Nothing would be possible without them and their hard work, dedication, sacrifice and commitment.”
Limitless Travel’s ethos has also led to great business, as the company recorded its best-ever month in January.
The company reported £1.2 million sales, mainly driven by cruise repeat bookings and the overseas product “outperformed the expectations”.
“We’ve worked really hard to make Limitless Travel an incredible brand,” he said. “We offer an incredible service to people, one that is not just focused on disability but it’s also about being looked after.”
Looking ahead, Drummond has set its sights on two main objectives – one more achievable than the other.
Drummonds wants to ensure all Limitless Travel products can reach people across the UK with all types of disabilities, while longer-term he wants to take people with disabilities to space.
“We know that space travel is on the horizon and maybe in 10 years’ time, it could be more of a possibility,” he concluded. “Our name is Limitless, we don’t want to stop at the world, we want to get into space.
“Our mission has always been space travel and so, hopefully, that will be achieved in the next 10 years."
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