A LANDMARK legal challenge to the Tories’ “discriminatory” universal credit (UC) policy began at the High Court today.

The four-day judicial review is being brought on behalf of two “severely disabled” men who both live alone without carers. They had their benefits cut by £178 a month when they lost two premiums along with the switch from employment and support allowance (ESA) to UC.

Zoe Leventhal, for the claimants, said: “The loss related to the severe disability premium [SDP] and the enhanced disability premium [EDP], both of which are abolished under UC and not replaced in the new scheme.”