Welfare cuts: 250 000 more people will be pushed into poverty, leaving doctors to “pick up the pieces”

The UK government is facing a fierce backlash over welfare cuts that a new analysis says will push an additional 250 000 people—including 50 000 children—into relative poverty in 2029-30.

Under the policy 3.2 million people will lose around £1720 a year, said an impact assessment published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 26 March.1

Disability charities said that the effect would be “catastrophic” for people who were unable to work and that those already the most vulnerable would be hit the hardest. The BMA said that the cuts were short sighted and counterproductive and could “pile more pressure on health services as doctors and their colleagues are left to pick up the pieces.”

The welfare reforms were announced earlier this …