RACHEL REEVES plans to cut about £3 billion from welfare spending over the next four years by restricting access to sickness benefits, reports suggested today.

The Chancellor is expected to follow the previous Tory government’s plans to save the sum by reforming work capability rules.

Under the Conservative proposals, about 400,000 people signed off long term would have been reassessed as needing to prepare for employment by 2028-29, cutting the benefits bill by an estimated £3bn.