Sir, – In the one election debate in which David Cameron agreed to take part, he referred to the treatment his disabled son Ivan had received from the NHS, to cite his own admiration for the service.

At the time of the tragic loss of their son, Mr and Mrs Cameron showed great dignity in their grief. Sadly this is an experience many parents have to endure. Some channel their sorrow into ways of helping others in similar circumstances, by supporting the hospital that treated their loved one, joining charity groups, or even setting up a new one.

Mr Cameron, whose own suffering might have informed his policies when he came to power, has not shown the compassion one might have expected after his experiences.

Rather, the lives of many disabled people, their families and carers, have been made even more difficult through his government’s savage austerity measures. These people, often in poor circumstances and powerless, have seemed to be a "soft target" for stringent measures. Many have been hit by the reduction of housing benefit, (the so-called bedroom tax), since for many disabled people, the apparently "spare" bedroom is needed for a carer or for bulky but essential equipment, such as hoists and wheelchairs. Without these many could not stay in their homes and would have to go into care homes, (incidentally costing the state far more).

Many adult people, after years of being officially regarded as disabled, have now been reassessed at the government’s behest, as "fit to work". As described in the press, the tests carried out have often been crude and lacking in the necessary expertise, with the original (profit-making and widely detested) company, ATOS, actually paying to get out of the contract. Many have appealed against their assessment successfully, but this would be highly stressful even for a fit person, traumatic for someone disabled.

Whilst no doubt there will always be some who will try to defraud the benefits system, just as there will always be some who will do their utmost not to pay their proper taxes, they are a minority, and the genuinely disabled should be treated with humanity by the government of a country which is still one of the world’s richest.

David Cameron could have honoured the memory of his little boy so much more nobly by policies to recognise the fellow-suffering of so many other parents, and using his experience and position to try to ameliorate their circumstances.

FRANCES DAVIES

Sowerby, Thirsk.