The MS Society delivered an open letter with 4,000 signatures to the Minister for Disabled People today about the impact of changes to Disability Living Allowance.

I signed the letter because I share their concerns about how the assessment process for the new benefit, Personal Independence Payment, will affect people with long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Last month, with no consultation, the government announced that the criteria for the enhanced mobility rate for the PIP being introduced in April, had changed.

Previously, people with physical walking difficulties would have qualified if they were unable to walk more than 50 metres in an assessment. That has been cut to 20 metres.

If approved, many people with MS will not be entitled to the enhanced rate of the PIP mobility component - putting them at risk of losing their motability vehicles and making it harder to live independently.

The MS Society wants safeguards put in place to ensure that people are assessed for their ability to complete tasks “safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a timely manner”.

I hope Esther McVey, the Minister for Disabled People, will heed the warnings in this letter and make sure that the PIP assessment process is as fair as it can be in order to protect the most vulnerable.

Campaigners with the MS Society delivering the letter to Esther McVey MP in Westminster today