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Comedian Francesca Martinez slammed the Tory government for having "blood on its hands" in what has been described as the "best ever moment" on BBC's Question Time.

The 40-year-old actress made an impassioned speech about welfare cuts, citing research which showed over 130,000 people had died from austerity.

Martinez, who has cerebral palsy, singled out cuts to disability benefits, describing them as 'absolutely outrageous'.

Her explosive comments were praised by viewers who hailed her a "hero" for "saying it like it is".

One Twitter user said: "She [Martinez] is my new favourite person."

Another wrote: "Best ever moment on QT...at least for a very long time."

Martinez said: "As a 'wobbly woman', I really have to highlight the tens of thousands of disabled and sick people who have died after being found fit for work.

"We are one of the richest countries in the world and this is absolutely outrageous. Even the UN has called Tory welfare reform a violation of disabled people's rights."

(Image: BBC)

She continued: "Anyone can become disabled or sick at any time and right now this government is taking away the safety net that we have fought for collectively over decades to help those in need.

"Austerity has caused the death of over 130,000 human beings in Britain, that's absolutely outragous.

"That's 130,000 mums, dads, daughters, sons, uncles and aunts who have died because the Tories and the Lib Dems decided to make ordinary people pay for a crash that was caused by bankers, who we bailed out."

"What a hero," one Twitter user wrote. "Martinez said it like it is. Round of applause."

The Institute for Public Policy Research, a think tank, recently found that Tory cuts were responsible for more than 130,000 preventable deaths in the UK since 2012.