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Cruel Tory welfare cuts have hammered the disabled harder than almost any other group, the human rights watchdog declared today.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission issued the damning verdict in a major 280-page report on fairness in Britain.

The report says "disabled people are among those worst affected by welfare reforms since 2010."

47% of bedroom tax victims had a disability, and welfare reforms contributed to a rise in homelessness, the report says.

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Disabled people were hit too by sanctions.

"Benefit sanctions are applied inconsistently and may disproportionately impact disabled people, younger people, men and ethnic minorities," the report says.

"Our analysis of changes to taxes, benefits, tax credits and Universal Credit since 2010 found that by the 2021/22 tax year, the largest impacts will be felt by those with lower incomes and that the changes will have a disproportionately negative impact on several protected groups.

"Negative impacts are particularly large for households with more disabled members, and more severely disabled individuals, as well as for lone parents on low incomes.

"For households with at least one disabled adult and a disabled child, average annual cash losses are just over £6,500 – over 13% of average net income [according to one study].

"Benefit sanctions had no tangible positive effects in moving disabled people closer to paid work and worsened many disabled people’s illnesses and impairments, particularly mental health conditions (Dwyer et al., 2018)."

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Sue Bott from Disability Rights UK said: “The EHRC’s comprehensive report demonstrates what we are hearing daily; that in almost every aspect of life, the chances for disabled people are getting worse.

"It is now urgent that the Government looks at the cumulative impact of their policies and takes action to restore the opportunities for disabled people to be equal citizens in today’s Britain.”

Genevieve Edwards, Director of External Affairs at the MS Society, said: “This disturbing assessment shines light on how cuts to disability benefits and social care are pushing disabled people further into poverty."