The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, denied yesterday that he was proposing unchristian cuts to disabled people's benefits as protesters took their fight to the gates of Downing Street and threw blood-red paint at it.
The temperature of the row over welfare reform increased sharply as disabled groups took to the streets to try to head off any thought of cuts.
The shadow spokesman for disability rights, Ms Angela Browning, said the protests illustrated the arrogance of the government. "Ministers have not carried out a full consultation process over welfare reform and yet a green paper has already been written," she said. "At the moment disabled people face a Christmas full of fear not cheer because of leaks and constant talk of change without any reassurance."
But Mr Blair and his social security ministers remained defiant: the overhaul of the welfare state must go on. Speaking to reporters at Durham Cathedral, he said it was "nonsense" to suggest his own Christian beliefs clashed with the need to tighten up on social security benefits.
"What we have got to do is make sure those people who are genuinely in need get the help they want because the system at the moment is failing them." Meanwhile, new figures disclosed yesterday in London's Evening Standard show that 40 per cent of the £24 billion disability benefits bill - £10 billion - goes to households on above-average incomes. Of that £10 billion, some £3.5 billion is reported to go to the 25 per cent of families categorised as having the highest incomes in Britain.
Government spending on sickness and disability benefits has grown from £4.1 billion in 1982 to £23.5 billion this year - and now accounts for a quarter of all benefit expenditure. At least 4.3 million people currently receive some kind of sickness and disability benefit.
The Department of Social Security attributes the increase in payments to an ageing population and partly to a gradual growth in the extent of provision.
The two most expensive benefits - the Disability Living Allowance, which currently costs £4.4 billion, and the Incapacity Benefit, costing £7.8 billion - have been highlighted by those campaigning against cuts as particularly vulnerable.
The changes to lone-parent benefits, sealed by a Commons vote last week, will save the government £395 million over three years, and Ministers believe that the highest loss of income for a lone parent will £10.25 a week under the new scheme, while the average will be around £5.