Major welfare cuts were announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall in the House of Commons on Tuesday to get more people back to work and bring down the cost of the soaring benefits bill.

Labour say the changes would put the welfare system “back on a more sustainable path” as the measures are expected to save more than £5 billion a year in 2029/30.

However, the new plans have been met with furious backlash from backbenchers, as well as unions and charities.

Tightening the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) is among the reforms being heavily criticised. Ms Kendall also announced she would scrap work capability assessments, freeze the health element rates of Universal Credit, and ramp up health work assessments to force those claiming benefits to prove they cannot work.

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Labour MP Debbie Abrahams is among the party’s own who has raised concerns. She has begged the Government not to “balance the books on the backs of the sick and disabled”.

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis also questioned whether Ms Kendall’s DWP understood the impact of the changes.

He said: “When she made the decision to go down this route, did they understand the pain and difficulty that this will cause millions of people, millions of our constituents who are using food banks, who are using social supermarkets, people who are on the brink?”

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham echoed this, claiming the Government is in “danger of making the wrong choices.”

She said: “We must be protecting the most vulnerable in society and not pitting the poorest against the poorest.

“Before cutting benefits, the government should be introducing a wealth tax, so that the very wealthiest in society begin paying their fair share.

“The principle of getting people back into work is right but we need joined up thinking to ensure we are creating jobs and training for people to go into. That is about investment in manufacturing and creating jobs for the future. Over a third of people on benefits are already in work, we need to ensure that work pays for everyone.”