Incapacity benefit cuts consultation was ‘misleading’ and unlawful, judge rules

Ellen Clifford, a disability activist, launched the legal challenge. She urged the government to rethink its proposals. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Labour’s plan to push through £3bn of cuts to incapacity benefits has received a setback after a judge ruled an official consultation setting out the proposals was misleading and unlawful.

The high court said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had presented UK-wide incapacity benefit assessment reforms as a way to support disabled people into work without making clear the “primary rationale” of the proposals was cost savings.