Letter: Cost of legislation for the disabled

Sir: The main reason for the failure of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill was its inability adequately to define 'disability'. It is indeed extraordinarily difficult. At one end of the spectrum are those who are manifestly disabled, but who refuse to accept that they are in any way unusual. At the other end are those who are well, but consider themselves disabled.

Any legislation that proposes rights and privileges for a group of individuals must fail if it is unable to delineate their specific characteristics.

Yours faithfully,

EMLYN WILLIAMS

Aintree Hospitals

Liverpool

31 August