Benefits The system needs overhaul - but don't claim cuts are moral crusade

The assessment process itself is awful." Carol Vickers receives the personal independence payment (Pip), the disability support benefit whose spiralling cost the government is determined to cut back.

- Heather Stewart

She has a debilitating condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that affects her connective tissues, and means she needs an assistance dog. I spoke to her this week, to get a sense of how those at the sharp end of the looming changes may be feeling.

The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, has insisted the government did not "start from a spreadsheet" when drawing up the plans, but officials privately make no bones about the fact they did have a savings target.

Cutting at least £5bn from the welfare bill will help Rachel Reeves to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules - and the row over welfare is likely to be the first of many battles as she looks for further savings in June's spending review.

"They are coming at it from completely the wrong angle," said Vickers. "It's almost as if they're trying to tackle the outcome, not the root causes."

Pip is paid regardless of whether the recipient is in work. Vickers says the £100-ish a week she gets on the lower rate does not meet the extra costs of coping with her condition, which she reckons are about £1,000 a month - but helps her to stay in her job in the education sector. She also has a small craft business, making jewellery.

"To an extent, it's helping keep me in work," she said. "The fact I can run my 13-year-old car means I can keep my job; the fact that I can pay for my assistance dog keeps me independent."