Matthew Hancock: Tory minister accused of 'writing off' those with disabilities on BBC Question Time

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A Tory MP has been criticised after the government was accused of “writing off” those with disabilities.

Matthew Hancock, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, was lambasted on BBC Question Time after a mother told of how budget cuts were restricting her son’s access to education.

“I have a son with a learning disability and he has no social worker, no care plan, his transport to and from school is threatened, his college place has just been withdrawn,” said the audience member.

“I think the reality on the ground for people like us, who are leading ordinary lives, is that austerity is devastating.

“Certainly for my son, and for young people like him, we feel he is being written off by Cameron’s government.”

The mother’s claims were met with applause from the audience as she told how the Autumn Statement made no difference to her family’s situation.

“They’re still planning £12 million in welfare cuts," she said.

“Our children are amongst the most vulnerable children in the country, yet Trafford Council has decided they can make their own way to and from school, and the reality of these cuts coming down from central government to local government is devastating.”

The Tory Cabinet Minister was booed after saying: “If we don’t have a country that lives within its means, then we can’t fund those sorts of public services that people like you rely on.”

To which the mother rebutted: “So we pay our taxes so people can’t go to school because they have a disability, is that right?”

The discussion came after George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement that the Conservative government are the “mainstream representatives of the working people of Britain” and that they want to achieve “economic recovery for all”.

However there is evidence to suggest that certain areas of society will be worse off due to Osborne’s economic plan.

The poor are expected to be hit particularly hard due to the move to universal credit, a policy expected to cost working households £1000 on average by 2020, according to the Resolution Foundation.