CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves hinted at watering down plans to cut disability benefits today, as she is “taking into account” opposition from Labour MPs.

She ruled out a U-turn on welfare reform but told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that ministers could review the changes they were planning to make to the rules for qualifying for personal independence payments (Pips).

She said: “We are reviewing the criteria to get Pips and of course we’ll take into account those representations.”

Labour backbenchers have been urging the government to reconsider the planned disability benefit cuts following the restoration of winter fuel payments to the majority of pensioners.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told the GMB Congress on Wednesday that unions will not accept cuts to the “most vulnerable” in society.

He asked the government to reconsider its plans for stricter eligibility criteria for Pips published in the government Pathways to Work green paper in March.

On Tuesday, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) co-founder Linda Burnip raised serious concerns over a consultation on the paper due to end on June 30.

In a letter to the social security and disability minister Stephen Timms, she said: “The whole process to date seems inaccessible, chaotic and incomplete and given how few people are being consulted, both virtually and in person, we are extremely concerned about how representative this process is and whether it meets even the most basic standards of engagement with disabled people and their advocates.”

She added that DPAC believes “the whole process is flawed… and violates the Gunning Principles and the requirements to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act and is therefore potentially unlawful.”