Labour MPs rebel as 'poverty will increase'

THE Chancellor was last night facing a Labour civil war over her "cruel" benefits cuts as charities warned they would plunge hundreds of thousands into poverty - and members of her own party vowed they would not back them.

- By Michael Knowles and Steph Spyro

More than three million families could lose up to £1,720 a year as part of Rachel Reeves's plan to slash spending by £4.8billion, figures suggest.

The Department for Work and Pensions revealed benefit cuts are set to push 250,000 into relative poverty by the end of the decade. And the Government's own impact assessment said this would include 50,000 children.

Jon Sparkes OBE, chief of learning disability charity Mencap, said 96% of families who will lose out "have a disabled person in the household".