My constituency mailbox sees a steady stream of cases on a variety of issues, immigration, benefit sanctions, and pensions to name but a few.

Recently I have been inundated with requests for assistance relating to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cases.

PIP was introduced by the UK Government as a replacement for the Disability Living Allowance (DLA). According to them it is designed to help with some of the extra costs caused by long-term ill-health or a disability if you’re aged 16 to 64.

But the Tory rhetoric doesn’t meet the reality. I have an alarming number of constituents who were in receipt of DLA for substantial periods of time (18 years in one instance) who have been forced to apply for PIP only to told they did not qualify, or have had their level of help significantly reduced.

The impact this has had on their lives has in many cases been catastrophic. I’ve talked to men and women in total distress at the injustice they’ve faced and the devastating impact of their PIP assessment on their day-to-day lives that the withdrawal of these benefits will have.

An elderly disabled lady living alone in a rural area no longer able to access vital community services, a war veteran with severe physical and psychological disabilities being forced to resort to foodbanks. This is unacceptable.

As concerning and seemingly callous as these cases are, the draconian application process PIP applicants are forced to go through beggars belief.

I’ve seen cases where decades of specialist medical opinion has been overturned in the space of a 30-minute interview by the decision of a single ‘health care professional’.

I’ve listened to a recording of an assessment interview so biased against the interviewee that it would make your hair curl, where the interviewer was more interested in getting though their list of leading questions rather than getting to the nub of the mobility challenges that my constituent faced.

The overwhelming feeling from all my constituents concerned was that of feeling demeaned, being made to feel as if they were trying to cheat the system.

This is hardly surprising when George Freeman, the Tory MP and head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, recently said in an interview that proposed changes to benefits for people with a disability would ensure that vital social security payments went to people who were “really disabled” rather than those who merely “suffer from anxiety”.

My constituents who have contacted me regarding their PIP applications are amongst the most vulnerable, and most in need of support in our society. They deserve better.

My colleagues and I will continue to challenge the UK government on the PIP debacle both on individual cases and on a Parliamentary level.

If you have experienced issues with your PIP application please contact my constituency office on 01259 726 661 or email tas.mp@parliament.uk