CHANCELLOR George Osborne cynically claimed to “protect” the most vulnerable yesterday in a desparate bid to play down anger over his cuts to disability benefits.

Facing another humiliating Tory rebellion, a panicked Mr Osborne promised to consult disability charities about the proposed cut to personal independence payments.

“Let me be absolutely clear — this government will always protect the most vulnerable and help disabled people,” he claimed. “So in the coming months we will be talking to colleagues, to disability charities, to make sure we get this absolutely right.”

But a trio of disability rights groups hit back immediately to demand he drops the cut, which will see 370,000 claimants lose an average £3,500-a-year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, hitting many of the same people who have just been stripped of £30 a week through cuts to employment and support allowance.

Sense deputy chief executive Richard Kramer said: “It’s simply not fair to penalise those who are already financially struggling and expect them to cover costs they have no choice in.”

Mencap spokeswoman Rossanna Trudgian said: “Support is being stripped away time and time again with no reassurance that the government is working in disabled people’s favour.

“People with a learning disability are being forced to the very fringes of our community due to the effects of cuts.”

And Robert Mooney of the National League of the Blind and Disabled, which is part the Community union, blasted the cuts as “fundamentally unfair.”

He said: “Once again, disabled people are paying the price so the Chancellor can give tax breaks to the rich.”