MPs warn George Osborne not to plunge disabled into poverty

The Chancellor faced the threat of a joint Lib-Con revolt if he seeks to slash billions of pounds off welfare payments to individuals with physical impairments and learning difficulties.

Lib-Dems Andrew George and Bob Russell teamed up with Conservative Peter Bottomley to issue a warning in the Commons that ministers should seek to avoid imposing greater hardship on vulnerable groups.

The Chancellor was today ordered to appear in the Commons to answer questions about the cuts.

He denied allegations of a "turf war" between the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions. He declined to discuss the figures in his short statement to MPs but said the welfare bill had risen by 45% in the last 10 years and the system needed radical reform.

"The current system is not protecting those who genuinely cannot work, nor is it helping those desperately looking for work to find a new job quickly," he said.

The Speaker, John Bercow, summoned him after Mr Russell protested that Mr Osborne used a TV interview rather than a Commons statement last week to announce that he had identified £4 billion worth of extra cuts in welfare benefits for the unemployed.

"Millions of disabled people rely on state financial support to help meet their social care needs and the extra living costs associated with their impairment," the MPs said in a Commons motion.

"We are concerned that the Government has not
adequately assessed the impact that spending cuts will have on disabled people and their families. The Government should take steps to ensure that spending cuts will not further compound poverty and social exclusion experienced by disabled people."

They stressed that only half of disabled people are in paid employment.

The Lib-Con coalition faced a backlash this weekend after a leaked letter reportedly revealed proposals to cut at least £2.5 billion from sickness payments.

Mr Osborne put that figure on reductions in Employment and Support Allowance payments in a letter sent in June to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, according to the Observer. ESA replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new claimants from October 2008.

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander insisted all cuts to the welfare budget would be "fair" and that discussions had moved on since the letter was written.

But he did not deny that the system of payments for disabled people could be overhauled. "With welfare spending making up nearly £200 billion, of course it is something we have to look at," he said.

Disability charity Scope said it would put a "crucial lifeline" at risk.