Disabled activists have explained why they took to the streets around parliament to protest at the government’s latest cuts to disability benefits.

The protest, organised by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN), brought traffic to a standstill outside the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, a day before the spring budget.

It was sparked by fresh cuts to personal independence payment (PIP) that were announced last month by work and pensions secretary Damian Green, following two tribunal rulings, and which will particularly impact on people with mental health conditions.

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) equality impact assessment found that an estimated 164,000 claimants will either lose all of their eligibility for the PIP mobility component or see it reduced, as a result of the cuts.

Another 1,500 disabled people who need support to take medication and monitor a health condition will either lose all of their PIP daily living payment or see it cut.

During the protest, activists – and Labour’s new shadow minister for disabled people, Marie Rimmer – posed for pictures in front of parliament with a “#ToryCutsKill” banner.

Source: Activists bring ‘no more benefit deaths’ message to Westminster

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