The Government has been defeated in the House of Lords over plans to cut the benefits of people with illness and disabilities. Ministers wanted to cut Employment Support Allowance (ESA) by £30 a week to spur new claimants to return to work. But Labour, Lib Dem and independent peers joined forces to block the move, arguing it would make it harder for those affected to pay for the support that might allow them to find work. The Government may try to overturn this decision at a later date in the House of Commons. Mencap's Rob Holland, who is chair of the Disability Benefits Commission, said: ‘The Government wants to get more disabled people into work, but as a sector we have warned that cutting ESA and Universal Credit will directly undermine that commitment, whilst pushing disabled people further from work and closer to or into poverty.’