Three million disabled people in Britain will lose out under the Chancellor George Osborne’s plans to maintain the annual rise in benefits below the cost of living.

The Department for Work and Pensions admitted that one in three British families with a disabled person will be £156 a year worse off after the chancellor’s embattled plans to squeeze benefits, also known by its critics as “strivers’ tax”.

The new figures contradict Osborne’s pledge to “support the vulnerable” which he made last month as he announced the new cap on the benefits.

Osborne and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith promised at the time that the disabled would not suffer from limits on benefit rises.

The two are now facing scathing criticism including by Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne who described the situation as “shocking”.

“It tells you all you need to know about the priorities of this government that [British Prime Minister] David Cameron and George Osborne are cutting support for the disabled,” he added.

Under the new rules, the rise in most benefit payments would contract to 1 percent, that is exactly 1.7 percent below the current rate of inflation.

MOS/AMR/HE