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Charities have spoken of the massive weekly impact of cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) after Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall gave an update. Speaking to the IPPR

thinktank this morning, Ms Kendall said sick and disabled people “want to work” but need a government that is on their side. She spoke after earlier this year announcing £5 billion in

savings in a Green Paper which will see hundreds of thousands being unable to claim PIPs. She said in her speech: “Change of this scale isn’t easy, but it is possible, and we know this

because we have done it before. “Labour ’s mission is to give people hope tomorrow will be better than today, that we will create the jobs, opportunities and opportunities and public

services people want and deserve, because a future dependent on benefits alone is not good enough for people in Blackpool, Birkenhead or Blaenau Gwent. “I am confident we will deliver,

because all the evidence shows hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people want to work that when they have a government that is on their side and provides the right support, they can

get work and that this can transform their lives.” National disability charity Sense spoke out afterwards saying the impact would see many people losing £47 in Universal Credit a week. It

said the Government’s reforms to save the system for the future presents a risk that it “won’t be there for disabled people who desperately need it today”. Tom Marsland, the charity’s head

of policy, said: “The Government is planning to cut £47-a-week of universal credit from disabled people who face some of the greatest barriers to work. This is cruel and unfair, and we’re

urging Liz Kendall to think again on this. “Almost half of disabled people with complex needs are already in debt because their benefit payments don’t cover the essentials, and the

Government’s own figures show these proposed reforms will push more people into poverty. “We agree that the welfare system isn’t currently working for disabled people – but increasing the

number of disabled people in poverty will never be the solution.” Citizens Advice accused the Government of a “misguided dash for short-term savings” which they said will “push far too many

deeper into poverty”. Its chief executive, Dame Clare Moriarty, said: “Slashing vital support creates desperation, not opportunity. These cuts fail to address why more people need

health-related benefits in the first place and will simply shift costs to other public services. “The Government says it wants to help disabled people into work, but cutting the money that

many need to be independent isn’t the way to do it. A misguided dash for short-term savings will push far too many deeper into poverty and make problems harder and more expensive to solve in

the long run.” The MS Society said it was “disappointed by the Government’s decision to double down on harmful benefits cuts in the name of cost saving”. Its head of policy, Charlotte Gill,

said: “Pip (personal independence payment) is a lifeline for many of the 150,000 people living with MS in the UK. It helps manage the overwhelming extra costs of the condition – like visits

from carers to help with things like washing and getting ready for work. “Removing this support will result in people being forced to leave work, lose their independence, or even be pushed

into poverty. Disabled people should not be forced to shoulder the Government’s savings whether in or out of work. We urge them to rethink and abandon these devastating cuts.” In the speech

Ms Kendall said there is a risk the welfare state could collapse “unless we reform the system”. She said there are a 1,000 new personal independence payment (Pip) awards every day. “That’s

the equivalent of adding a city the size of Leicester every single year,” she said. “This is not sustainable or fair for the people who need support and for taxpayers,” the Work and Pensions

Secretary continued. “Unless we reform the system to help those who can work to do so, unless we get social security spending on a more sustainable footing, and unless we ensure public

money is focused on those with the greatest need and is spent in ways that have the best chance of improving people’s lives, the risk is the welfare state won’t be there for people who

really need it in future.” The Work and Pensions Secretary defended Labour’s £5 billion plans for welfare cuts, telling the think tank that reform is essential. She said welfare reform is

“rarely popular”. “There is nothing Labour about accepting the cost of this economic but above all, social crisis paid for in people’s life chances and living standards, and there is nothing

inevitable about Britain’s future path,” she told the Institute for Public Policy Research at a venue in central London. “If we have the courage and conviction to act, we must start

shifting so much spending on the costs of failure to investing in the jobs, skills and public services that people need to build a better life, and this requires leadership, and it requires

reform. “Welfare reform is never easy and it is rarely popular. We will reform the welfare state, just as great reforming Labour governments have done in the past, changing it to meet the

social and demographic challenges of today and tomorrow and delivering the fairness, equality and opportunity people need and deserve.”