Sunak accused of 'assault on disabled people' with plan to curb benefits

Rishi Sunak was accused of launching "an assault on disabled people" after he revealed plans to curb benefits for some people suffering from anxiety and depression.

- Rowena Mason Patrick Butler

In a speech on welfare, the prime minister said he wanted to explore withdrawing a cash benefit claimed by people with mental health problems and replacing it with treatment.

However, charities said that treatment is already unavailable for many, with 1.9 million on the NHS waiting list for mental health services- some experiencing worsening conditions while they remain without help.

And he was accused by Labour of "attempting to make mental ill health another front for their culture wars", with the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, calling the speech "tone deaf".

Launching a review of the personal independence payment (Pip), a non-means-tested benefit helping disabled people with the extra costs of their health problems, Sunak said Britain was suffering from a "sicknote culture".

He added that the review would consider asking for more medical evidence before awarding the benefit, look at whether some payments should be one-off rather than ongoing, and examine whether to stop cash payments for some mental health conditions.

The prime minister said it would seek to be "more precise about the type and severity of mental health conditions that should be eligible for Pip", and that it was "not clear they have the same degree of increased living costs as those with physical conditions".