Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith, commenting on the Government’s apparent U-turn on disability benefit cuts, said:

“It is ludicrous for the Tories to pretend that this was anything other than a major part of Wednesday’s Budget. On Wednesday they came to Parliament and presented plans which cut taxes for the wealthiest while cutting support for those most in need.

“If the Tories are now postponing or cancelling these cruel cuts altogether it is a humiliating climbdown for George Osborne, although it will come as an incredibly welcome reprieve for hundreds of thousands of disabled people who were due to be affected.

"Everything about these cuts is shameful. There is no moral, political or economic case for targeting disabled people in this manner.

"The Tories must now come to Parliament at the earliest possible opportunity to explain exactly what’s going on and to put the minds of disabled people at rest.”