DISABLED people could lose around £1,200 a year if the Tories cling to their plans to lop billions off the welfare budget after their tax credits defeat, the IPPR think tank warned yesterday.

With Chancellor George Osborne desperately looking for a target for spending cuts after the Lords held up his plans to take cash from the working poor, the Institute for Public Policy Research said the disabled and renters would likely be next to feel his axe.

If the government shunted all disabled people on employment and support allowance onto the jobseeker’s allowance rate — as will happen to all new claimants from 2017 — it could “save” the taxpayer around £1.4 billion of the £4.4bn target — but cost seriously disabled people around £1,200 a year.