Work and pensions minister Stephen Timms has denied economic pressures forced the government into making sweeping cuts to the welfare budget.
"I think the changes needed to be made anyway," Mr Timms told Sky News.
He said £12bn was spent on personal independence payments before the pandemic – it is set to hit £30bn over the next five years "if something wasn’t done".
"I think whatever the fiscal situation, we would have had to make these changes," he said.
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