Cancer charities warn that welfare changes could push patients into poverty

The heads of 30 cancer charities have written to the works and pensions secretary warning that planned welfare reforms could push cancer patients into poverty.

In an open letter published in the Guardian, the chief executives of the UK’s leading cancer organisations, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK, called on Iain Duncan Smith MP, to “consider the impact” his proposed reforms would have on people living with cancer in the UK.

In the letter, published ahead of the Welfare Reform Bill’s second reading in the Commons on 9 March, the charity leaders wrote that they welcomed proposals to simplify the welfare system but they had major concerns about planned changes to disability benefits. They warned …