Hate crimes against disabled victims will be treated with the same severity by the courts as racially-motivated attacks, the Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke has promised.
The Justice Secretary told Labour MP Kate Green that the Government would table amendments to its Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill in the House of Lords to offer disabled victims of crime the same protection as those targeted because of their race, religion or sexual orientation.
Ms Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, said the law needed to be changed so that disabled victims were not "seen as vulnerable" but at "greater risk of harm".
Tory MP Paul Maynard, who represents Blackpool North and Cleveleys and has cerebral palsy, added: "There will be utter incomprehension if we fail to make progress on this matter. It should be a simple matter of human dignity and equality."
Mr Clarke then told the Commons that the Bill was going to be changed.
He told the MPs: "Can I give you an assurance on behalf of the Government that I agree with you (both)? I can give you an assurance that we will in (the Lords) table amendments to give effect to what you are asking for and we propose to include transgender as well."
Ms Green replied: "I am extremely grateful to you, as will be the many disabled people and their families who have been in touch with me. I am delighted that there will be a Government amendment."
A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last month, which found many disabled people viewed harassment as a commonplace experience, might also have influenced the Government's decision to change the law.
Speaking outside the Commons, Ms Green said: "This is not so much a U-turn as negligence. Nobody has wanted to pick this issue up and deal with it. I don't know why Ken Clarke today decided to take it out of the in-tray and sort it out but I am very glad he did.
"I want to see what the Government is now going to come forward with. The real trick is to get the whole system to change so that disabled people feel that if they make a complaint they are going to be believed."
