Rachel Reeves writes to Iain Duncan Smith to demand he comes clean about impact of £12billion welfare cuts on disabled people and carers 

Following the leaked document from the DWP that revealed that  officials have drawn up plans to hit disability and carers benefits, following requests from Conservative advisers, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State Rachel Reeves has today written to Iain Duncan Smith asking him to write to disability charities setting out the full details of Tory plans, and how they will affect disabled people and carers. 

The full text of the letter is copied below:

Dear Secretary of State, 

This week the Prime Minister confirmed to Jeremy Paxman that your party intends to make £12 billion of cuts to the Social Security budget in the next Parliament. 

The BBC reported on 27.03.2015 that your Department has prepared plans for you with many of these cuts falling on disabled people and carers. It is reported that the proposals were commissioned by Conservative Party officials and have been discussed between you and Chancellor George Osborne in recent weeks. 

The changes in this document would have a hugely damaging impact on the lives of disabled people and their carers. They will want confirmation whether any of these proposals would be implemented by a future Conservative Government. Your statement yesterday provided no clarity on what may or may not be part of your plans for the next Parliament. Yet with less than six weeks until the election the public have a right to know what your plans are.

I am calling on you to write to disability and carers groups including Scope, Mencap, Mind and Carers UK today to set out the details of your plans for future changes to disability and carers’ benefits to reach your £12 billion cuts target. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that even if all the reforms proposed were implemented, alongside the Conservative Party’s existing policies, the total savings would “fall short” of the £12 billion welfare cuts you need to meet your commitments. Are you able to also rule out further cuts to tax credits for working families in order to meet your £12 billion commitment? 

I look forward to your response. 

Yours sincerely, 

Rachel Reeves MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions