Worse than the Tories' Campaigners angry over 'unethical' concessions

As a community, we feel totally let down, and these last-minute concessions do nothing to make up for that," Andy Mitchell, a disability campaigner and a member of Unite Community, says.

- Frances Ryan

"My friends are scared. Some have spoken about suicide. This is worse than anything that happened under the Tories."

With the government offering concessions to the welfare bill, ministers will be hoping critics have at last been appeased. But many campaigners have reacted with anger.

Disabled people's organisations, including Inclusion London, WinVisible and Long Covid Advocacy, have said plans to only exempt existing claimants from the cuts will create a "two-tier" benefit system that "condemns" future disabled people to poverty.

"Protecting entitlements for current recipients is the right thing to do and if it's right for current recipients then it has to be the right thing for future claimants too," says Tracey Lazard, the chief executive of Inclusion London.

"Even with these concessions, the bill before parliament is not a reform - it's still rationing. There is no moral or economic case for balancing the books on the backs of disabled people. MPs must not condemn future disabled people to the poverty and indignity these devastating planned cuts will cause."