Tucci among stars calling for benefit cuts rethink

Stanley Tucci, Brian Cox and Sir Stephen Fry have piled pressure on the government to U-turn on controversial welfare cuts.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The celebrities have branded the cuts, which will see around a million people lose their disability benefits, shameful” and warned they have left those affected fearful for the future. Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the current system is “morally and economically indefensible”, with the government estimating its measures will save more than £5bn a year by the end of the decade.

Sir Stephen, who moved to Los Angeles with his husband Elliott Spencer in 2016, said cuts should not be targeted at “the most vulnerable and overlooked of all our population” and told the government: “It’s not too late to rethink this.”

The actor, who is also president of mental health charity Mind, has been a long-standing Labour supporter, but described Sir Keir’s first 100 days in office as “disastrous”.