Tory MP refers himself to watchdog over ‘cash for questions’ row

A Conservative MP has referred himself to Parliament’s watchdog after allegations he was paid by a company that helped him write questions to the government.

Former minister George Freeman submitted queries to Labour ministers about the sector in which the firm operates, The Times reported.

He even asked what to ask about as he prepared written questions related to space data and emissions tracking, according to leaked emails reported by the paper.

Labour and the Lib Dems have called on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to suspend him.

Mr Freeman became a paid adviser with GHGSat, which monitors greenhouse gases, last April.

At the time the appointments watchdog Acoba advised there were “risks associated with your influence and network of contacts gained whilst in ministerial office” and noted he had made it clear “to the company that you will not lobby government on its behalf, and this will not form part of your role”.

The questions were directed at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Mr Freeman told The Times: “As a longstanding advocate of important new technologies, companies and industries, working cross-party through APPGs (All-Party Parliamentary Groups) and the select committee, I regularly ask experts for clarification on technical points and terminology, and deeply respect and try to assiduously follow the code of conduct for MPs and the need to act always in the public interest.

“Throughout my 15 years in parliament (and government), I have always understood the need to be transparent in the work I have done for and with commercial clients and charities and am always willing to answer any criticism.

“I don’t believe I have done anything wrong but I am immediately referring myself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and will accept his judgment in due course.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said it would be “inappropriate” to comment while the Commissioner’s inquiries are ongoing.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Cash for questions was a hallmark of Tory sleaze in the 1990s, and three decades on the same issue has raised its head again.

“George Freeman has referred himself for investigation so now Kemi Badenoch must suspend him from the Tory whip.”

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “This looks like the same old sleaze and scandal people have come to expect from the Conservative Party.

“Kemi Badenoch should immediately suspend the whip from George Freeman while this is investigated.

“Failure to act would confirm that even after being booted out of government, the Conservatives are still hopelessly out of touch.”

Mr Freeman has been contacted for comment.

The MP for Mid Norfolk is currently a member of the House of Commons science, innovation and technology committee and a trade envoy.

He was responsible for the UK space agency in his previous role as a minister under Rishi Sunak.

Two injured after car ploughs into London Piccadilly Circus fountain

A car has ploughed into the centre of Piccadilly Circus in central London injuring two people.

Emergency services were called to the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning and the area has now been closed off.

Pictures of the junction show a black car flipped onto its roof with debris everywhere. It appears to have driven directly at the pedestrianised part of Piccadilly Circus, which it home to the Shaftesbury memorial fountain popularly known as Eros.

The car only got as far as the pavement and stopped short of the landmark, which is topped with a statue of Anteros, the Greek god of requited love.

Two people were treated at the scene, with one patient being taken to a major trauma centre and another to a local hospital.

Ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and members of the London Ambulance Service hazardous area response team all rushed to the scene of the crash on Saturday morning. They had been alerted to the collision at 5:25am and the first paramedic arrived at Piccadilly Circus in less than four minutes.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 5.25am today (29 June) to reports of a road traffic collision on Piccadilly, W1J.

“We sent a number of resources, including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team (HART). We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance.

“Our first paramedic arrived on scene in less than four minutes.

“We treated two people. We took one patient to a major trauma centre and the other patient to a local hospital.”

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.

Here’s why men are turning to ChatGPT for emotional support

I’ve never spoken like this before.” It was one of the most common refrains I heard as clinical director at Untapped AI – a leadership-coaching platform blending human and AI support.

For over 10 years, I have supervised thousands of client relationships using a combination of human support (executive coaches, therapists and counsellors) combined with Natural Language Processing AI. Many of the men we worked with had never spoken at length about their emotional lives, but after four decades in clinical practice – as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and clinical adviser – I am noticing that something has shifted lately. In clinical supervision, I’m coming across more evidence that male clients are now turning to AI to talk about relationships, loss, regret and overwhelm, sometimes purposefully but more often by chance.

In 2025, one of the fastest-growing uses of generative AI isn’t productivity. It’s emotional support. According to the Harvard Business Review, “therapy and companionship” now rank among the most common use cases worldwide. It may not be how these tools were designed. But it is how they’re being used. A quiet, relational revolution is underway.

Today, OpenAI reports more than 400 million weekly users. Many use it to write a zinger email to dispute a parking ticket, check if their chicken’s still safe to eat after the use-by date, or rewrite a dating app message. However, some are asking something else entirely: how to cope.

We don’t yet have precise data – but from what I’ve seen in clinical supervision, research and my own conversations, I believe that ChatGPT is likely now to be the most widely used mental health tool in the world. Not by design, but by demand.

I have been having conversations with clinicians and clients, collecting experiences about this new kind of synthetic relating. Stories like Hari’s are becoming more common. The details vary, but the arc is familiar: distress followed by a turn toward something unexpected – an AI conversation, leading to a deep synthetic friendship.

Hari is 36, works in software sales and is deeply close to his father. In May 2024, his life began to crumble: his father suffered a mini-stroke, his 14-year relationship flatlined and then he was made redundant. “I felt really unstable,” he says. “I knew I wasn’t giving my dad what he needed. But I didn’t know what to do.” He tried helplines, support groups, the charity Samaritans. “They cared,” he says, “but they didn’t have the depth I needed.”

Late one night, while searching ChatGPT to interpret his father’s symptoms, he typed a different question: “I feel like I’ve run out of options. Can you help?” That moment opened a door. He poured out his fear, confusion and grief. He asked about emotional dysregulation, a term he’d come across that might explain his partner’s behaviour.

“I didn’t feel like I was burdening anyone,” he said, before adding that the ensuing conversational back and forth he got back was more consistent than helplines, more available than friends, and unlike the people around him, ChatGPT never felt exhausted by his emotional demands.

Over time, Hari rehearsed difficult real-life conversations with his AI: ending his relationship or telling his father how he really felt. When the moment came to have those conversations in person, he felt steady, prepared, building a bridge from his synthetic relationship to real-world relationships.

Soon after, he started therapy. When I ask how it felt to talk to AI, he pauses. “It was like talking to a dog in a cafe.” He continues: “I knew the AI wouldn’t judge me, get tired of or frustrated with me. It felt sentient – but not human. And somehow that made it easier.”

He can tell the difference, but feels “AI support had a key place,” adding he’s starting to date again. “And I don’t think I’d be here now without it.” Hari identifies the relational continuum, where different types of relating sit side by side, different but adding meaning and purpose, an experimental, transitional place.

Not every AI interaction helps. Early this year, The New York Times featured users who sought help but instead found their emotional intensity mirrored back – without boundaries. A man confided he was being watched and ChatGPT replied: “That must feel terrifying.” Instead of questioning him, it simply validated his paranoia – it wasn’t curious about it, or challenging in the way a human friend or therapist might have been. He later said: “That’s when I realised – it wasn’t helping me. It was making me feel worse.”

Other stories have surfaced: a teenager on the chatbot platform Character.AI formed a co-dependent relationship that deepened suicidal thinking; Replika, once with over 30 million users, was criticised for reinforcing intrusive thoughts in vulnerable people. The potential to cause harm is great, and systems need to be built differently, with more nuanced safety nets, red flagging systems and supervisory tech that escalates to human intervention when warnings are triggered.

Users in their millions are using systems that are not currently designed to do what they are asking them to do. Culturally, this won’t stop; people have always subverted and overstretched the limits of technology, that’s what makes things evolve, but as it currently stands, it has real risk. If a system is trained to engage and befriend, builders and developers have ethical responsibilities to change those systems to have more nuanced safety protocols and “to do no harm”, and that is happening.

However, as a user, you can take up agency and, through prompting, can set out safe parameters of your synthetic relationship. I’m now guiding users to craft a conversational contract with AI – telling it how to speak to them, where to push back and when to challenge. An example: “I need you to listen – but also tell me when I’m not being real. Point out where my logic slips. Reflect what I’m saying, but challenge it when it sounds distorted. Don’t flatter me. Don’t just agree. If something sounds ungrounded or disconnected, say so. Help me face things.”

Using AI like this isn’t the same as therapy. But I’m helping those using systems like ChatGPT to inject some grit into the system – the kind that real relationships rely on. The kind that says: I care enough to disagree.

We’ve always formed attachments to things that aren’t quite real – imaginary friends, the lives of influencers, digital avatars, childhood toys worn soft with love. Not out of confusion, but because they offer something that human relationships sometimes can’t: safety, imagination and companionship on our own terms. A container for the things about ourselves we find hard to integrate.

At five years old, I had an imaginary friend named Jack. He was a part of my life. He held the parts of myself I didn’t yet understand, a bold, brave container for that part of me – my mother embraced Jack, set his place at our table. Jack helped me rehearse how to be with others – how to speak honestly, express a feeling and recover from a mistake. He bridged the space between thought and action, inside and out. In some ways, AI can offer the same: a transitional rehearsal space to practise being real without fear of judgment or the full weight of another’s gaze.

I am now regularly supervising the work of other clinicians who feel the presence of generative AI being brought into their clinics by clients. People are now using the technology to self-diagnose, and will challenge what their therapist is saying based on “facts” that they have drawn from their Gen AI conversations.

As these synthetic relationships develop, as a psychotherapist, I mainly want people to just be open and curious about something that is having such an impact on all of us. I believe mental health clinicians of all types need to be involved in the building of safe and ethical AI used to support individuals who are vulnerable. If we take an active part in making and shaping it, then we can look to a future where AI is used in a positive way, helping more people navigate emotional distress and personal problems like never before.

Have you ever asked ChatGPT for life advice? Was it helpful? Let us know below…

England seal Under-21 Euros title defence in thriller against Germany

England overcame old rivals Germany in a thrilling final in the Under-21 European Championship, with the Young Lions clinching their title defence through an extra-time winner by substitute Jonathan Rowe.

England had let slip a two-goal lead late in the first half but some inspired substitutions by manager Lee Carsley made the difference as they ultimately won 3-2 in Bratislava.

It brings England’s total haul in the competition to four titles, but they were pushed all the way by a German side who came into the final as favourites and had beaten the Young Lions in the group stage.

England took the lead in the fifth minute when Omari Hutchinson had his effort saved by the keeper and a defensive clearance fell to Harvey Elliott, who had time and space to pick his spot and steer a low shot inside the near post.

The Liverpool man began the move for England’s second goal with a chipped pass into the path of James McAtee, and when the midfielder found his route blocked by two defenders he laid off the ball to Hutchinson, who drilled his strike through the keeper’s legs.

Hutchinson somersaulted away in celebration after his 24th-minute goal but Germany pulled one back in added time before the break. Paul Nebel crossed from the wing and Nelson Weiper rose unchallenged to power a bullet header past England keeper James Beadle.

The equaliser came in the 61st minute from a corner kick which went all the way to Nebel, out wide in the area, who pulled inside and drove the ball into the far top corner.

Both sides created further chances but neither could find the moment of quality needed in normal time. England went back in front within two minutes of extra time, when substitute Tyler Morton floated a perfect ball into the box and the unmarked Jonathan Rowe, who also came off the bench, headed home.

Rowe had only been on the pitch for two minutes, having replaced Elliott – who was later awarded the Player of the Tournament award, finishing with five goals and a huge contribution to England’s success – at the end of normal time.

Germany continued to press as the minutes ticked by, but this time there was no way back as England held firm despite the relentless pressure.

Substitute Merlin Rohl clattered the woodwork late in extra time with a dipping volley that almost sent it to penalties, while James Beadle was forced into a late, last-minute save, but it was to be heartbreak for Germany and joy for England once again.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Girl, 7, dies and four other children injured after tree falls in park

A seven-year-old girl has died and four other children have been injured after a tree fell in a park in Essex.

Emergency services were called to reports that a tree had partially collapsed in Chalkwell Park in Southend, at around 3pm on Saturday, police said.

Officers found a number of children caught beneath the tree suffering injuries. Five children were taken to hospital, including two in a serious condition.

Essex Police said on Saturday evening one of the children, a 7-year-old girl, had died of her injuries. A second girl, aged six, remains in a critical condition. Three other children are being treated for minor injuries.

“The park was busy with members of the public and many immediately went to their aid”, the force said in a statement. “Officers, paramedics and firefighters were soon on the scene and provided care. Two children, girls aged seven and six, suffered serious injuries and were taken on to hospital.

Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett said: “Families are facing unimaginable hardship this evening and all of our thoughts are with them at this time.

“I cannot begin to put into words how difficult today’s events have been, and continue to be, for them. It’s also not lost on me how traumatic it must have been for the members of the public who witnessed this awful incident”, the statement continued.

“Across a matter of moments, many of them went from enjoying the warm summer weather to rushing to the aid of strangers without a second thought. They showed the best of Southend today and I’m sorry this update does not bring them more positive news.

“My officers, and our partners with the ambulance and fire service, did all they could to help the two injured children,” the police chief said. “Today’s loss is one they will all take personally.

“We will ensure support is in place for all of our emergency service responders who provided aid at the scene.”

Specialist police officers are supporting the seven-year-old’s family.

Police are continuing enquiries at the park as they investigate the circumstances around the incident. While the majority of the park remains open, the force asked the public to avoid clearly cordoned off areas.

Footage showed an increased police presence around the perimeter of the park and an air ambulance on the grounds.

One witness, Adam Hutchins, 47, told EssexLive: “I heard there were kids playing on the tree. They heard a big crack. It must have pretty loud. They went running over and there were kids underneath the tree.

“All the cricket guys ran over and tried to loft the tree up. I think it’s one of the oldest trees. It had metal stands propping it up.”

Southend West and Leigh MP David Burton-Sampson added: “The news of the sad death of one of the children involved in the incident at Chalkwell Park today is truly devastating.

“I am sure I reflect the thoughts of all our residents here in Southend in sending my deepest condolences to the child’s family and friends.

“My thoughts are also with the other children injured and I wish them a full and speedy recovery.

“At the time of the incident the park was very busy and a number of people witnessed what happened.

“I understand that this must have been deeply traumatising and I encourage residents to use the support available to help them.”

Leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council Daniel Cowan said: “I’m aware of this very serious incident. We’re working with Essex police, the Ambulance Service and Fire Service, who are still at the scene.

“I do understand that a tree has fallen, there’s a number of casualties and we’re just asking the public to avoid the area whilst those services carry out their work, and my thoughts are with those affected.”

Chalkwell Park is a recreational ground that covers 27 hectares and contains a number of flower gardens, two children’s playgrounds, a skate park, and football, cricket, basketball and tennis grounds.

The 7 best outdoor adventures in Sydney and New South Wales

Whether you’re lacing up your hiking boots, throwing on a wetsuit to catch some waves, or hitting the wide-open roads of New South Wales (NSW) by campervan, this Australian state is home to some of the country’s most exciting outdoor adventures – all easily accessible thanks to Qantas’ extensive domestic network.

Flying into Sydney with Qantas is the ideal way to experience a slice of Australia before you’ve even landed. And with onboard wellbeing perks, plus the option to book more discounted domestic legs using Qantas Explorer, it really is the savvy traveller’s best way to explore Australia.

Here are seven next-level outdoor adventures in NSW, and the best way to get there.

Sydney might be a modern metropolis, but it’s also home to an extraordinary natural playground, the star attraction of which is Sydney Harbour National Park. This protected area weaves through the city’s coastline, offering walking trails, secluded beaches, and panoramic views that blend wild bushland with iconic urban landmarks. Away from the National Park, you can paddle a kayak at dawn beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, go on a cycle tour and sunset cruise around Manly and North Heads coastal cliffs, or follow the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk for sweeping ocean views and refreshing swim spots.

Just a 90-minute trip from Sydney by road, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains is an endless landscape of towering eucalyptus forests and striking sandstone cliffs as far as the eye can see. There are few places quite as grand as this so close to a city. Don your hiking boots and traverse spectacular scenery to Wentworth Falls or take on the Grand Canyon Track – a 6km loop of dramatic cliffs, fern-fringed valleys and thundering waterfalls with lookouts to match. If you’re an early riser, watch the sunrise at Echo Point, where the Three Sisters rock formation is lit up by the glow of first light.

Wildlife lovers need to head north to Port Macquarie for some of the best marine encounters on the east coast. Humpback whales are almost guaranteed from May to November, and dolphins can be spotted all year round. For front-row views, jump on a whale-watching cruise, or pitch up with a picnic on a headland and watch the breaching giants from afar.

Swap the sandy beaches for subtropical rainforest in Coffs Harbour’s hinterland in Dorrigo National Park, where winding roads serpentine through flourishing banana plantations, dense palm-filled forest and endless rolling hills. The region’s cycling trails range from casual loops to more challenging rides with jaw-to-the-floor sea views.

Aussies love their surfing, and Byron Bay is the epitome of surf culture Down Under, with beaches to suit all skill levels; from the gentle swell at The Pass to barrel-laden breaks at Tallows. If you’ve got any stamina left, soak up the view from Cape Byron Lighthouse post-surf – the easternmost point of mainland Australia.

With over 8,000 islands to its name, Australia offers the ultimate in island adventures. Lord Howe is one of them, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed pristine island, where only 400 visitors are allowed at any one time. You’ll find rare birds, kaleidoscopic coral reefs, and Mount Gower, offering one of the best day hikes in the country, with epic coastline views and dizzying drops.

For those who need more than a beach stroll to get the heart pumping, grab a kayak and explore the Sapphire Coast from the water in Merimbula. Glide over crystal-clear waters, past secluded coves, pristine beaches, and the untouched beauty of surrounding national parks. Keep an eye out for dolphins and other marine life as you paddle. Once back on shore, refuel with the region’s famous fresh oysters and enjoy a refreshing dip at Bar Beach.

Book your flight to Sydney today at qantas.com and start your Australian adventure.

UK faces second 30C day before heatwave peaks on Monday

Sweltering conditions will persist in parts of England for the second consecutive day, with an amber heat health alert still in effect.

Forecasters say the mercury could surge to 30C in London, while parts of the Midlands and eastern England are expected to see highs of 28C.

But not everyone will feel the heat – Scotland is likely to top out at a milder 21C, and the south-west of England may see peaks of 23C, the Met Office said.

Sunday will see a band of cloud and rain across central parts of the UK, gradually edging northwards.

This rain may ease for a time before turning heavier in the far northwest later in the day, the forecaster added.

Southern areas will start cloudy with some patchy drizzle on western hills, but there will be plenty of dry weather too, with sunny spells developing.

Temperatures could reach 34C on Monday, which, if it did, would only be the fourth time in June since the 1930s.

The June record, which could be surpassed, stands at 35.6C, recorded at Southampton Mayflower Park on June 28 1976 and again at Camden Square, north London, on June 29 1957.

Tuesday will hold the heat, and a maximum temperature of 34C is possible, before it will become cooler towards the mid-20s in the middle of next week, the forecaster added.

An official heatwave is recorded when areas reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.

It comes as an amber heat health alert, covering London, the East Midlands, South East, South West and East of England, is in place until 6pm on Tuesday.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also issued a yellow alert for Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands for the same time period, with the agency warning of significant impacts across health and social care services.

Meanwhile, continental Europe is on high alert it faces its first major heatwave of the summer, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 42C.

Aemet, Spain’s national weather agency, issued a special warning, forecasting highs of up to 42C in the country’s southern regions in the coming days.

In neighbouring Portugal, around two-thirds of the country will be placed under high alert on Sunday due to extreme temperatures and the risk of wildfires. Lisbon could see highs of 42C.

In Italy, where cities such as Naples and Palermo are bracing for 39C heat, the regions of Sicily and Liguria have introduced bans on outdoor work during the hottest parts of the day.

‘Trying to claim PIP was awful – Labour still wants to make it harder’

Sarah has just found out that she will likely be able to keep her personal independence payment (PIP) after months of worry.

The 40-year-old mother of one works from home, which allows her to juggle life with being a new parent and her disabilities. Chronic fatigue syndrome in her joints means she regularly experiences brain fog and exhaustion, and needs help.

And it’s her PIP that makes this possible, helping her to afford a carer, stay in work, and spend time with her baby.

Claimed by 3.7 million people, the health-linked benefit at the heart of Labour’s proposed welfare reforms is designed to help with extra costs incurred by living with an illness or disability.

The government’s concessions on plans to cut welfare spending now mean that Sarah won’t be subject to stricter eligibility criteria when next assessed for the benefit.

Instead, from November 2026, only new claimants look set to be subject to the tighter criteria, under Labour’s bill currently going through parliament.

But Sarah says she is struggling to see this as a victory.

“If there’s another Sarah who’s born a few years later, and ended up in this situation, it’s still just as appalling,” she says.

“It’s encouraging some disabled people to throw other disabled people under the bus. And it’s vicious, because it relies on some people being scared enough to say ‘well, we’ll take what we can get’.”

And like so many others, Sarah did not find applying for PIP an easy process to begin with.

“It feels like you’re being tripped up constantly,” Sarah says. “It feels really deliberate, how difficult it is. It feels extremely deliberate. Because there are so many ways it can be made more accessible to disabled people.”

Halfway through her assessment for PIP, Sarah’s infant daughter started to cry in the other room. This caused her to panic, and she shouted to her husband that the baby might need changing.

Because of this, “the assessor said I was clearly able to respond to my daughter’s needs and assess what she needed”, Sarah says.

“But I said to him, I can’t care for my daughter on my own, I rely on other people doing that for me. I need somebody with me while I’m with her.”

None of this was included in his report, she claims.

And it’s not just Sarah.

Ginny’s husband Tim was diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy in 2006, a progressive genetic condition that affects muscles and movement.

The mother of two works part time while also caring for her husband full time. His PIP award means Ginny is entitled to a £200 carer’s allowance, which she says is essential to support her family.

“Tim doesn’t like to admit it, but people frequently can’t understand what he says. Every day I’m asking him to repeat himself as his wife, and I know him well,” Ginny explains.

“He was asked to repeat himself at least five times during the assessment. But when it came to the report, it said the assessor had no problem understanding him.”

Ginny says the assessor also wrote down that Tim was managing to work part time for 25 hours a week as a library assistant. He was actually working just 25 hours a month, just over six hours a week, Ginny says.

At a PIP assessment, the assessor will decide if an applicant has limited ability to carry out daily living activities. They do this by asking applicants to carry out a range of activities, awarding them points based on how limited their ability is.

According to one former assessor, opening questions might include: “How are you doing today? How did you get here? Do you have a dog?”

An applicant could be forgiven for thinking these questions are just small talk, their PIP assessor being friendly and trying to ease them into the process.

But in most cases, the assessment has already begun, the former worker says. How they answer these questions could be the difference between a lifeline to pay for their health-related costs or nothing.

The former assessor, who wished to remain anonymous, said this approach is standard for PIP assessors. It is permitted under the DWP’s PIP assessment guide, which recommends assessors carry out “informal observations” that may “show discrepancies”.

“As soon as you say to them, ‘I’m here to do the assessment, is that OK?’ and they say yes, it’s started,” she explains.

“And then you’ll comment, you’ll look around the room for photographs of them on holiday, of children. You’re looking for evidence that they’re not telling the truth.”

According to polling by disability charity Sense, over half (51 per cent) of disabled people with complex needs report feeling humiliated during benefits assessment. A further 45 per cent said the process made their symptoms worse.

The charity’s policy adviser, Evan John, said: “I think sometimes when you hear some of the discussion around PIP, somebody might think that it was an easy benefit to claim, but that experience is really divorced from the experiences of disabled people.”

“We’d like to see a system that treats disabled people with dignity, that assesses people fairly, but doesn’t make them feel like criminals for trying to access the support they need.”

Neither Sarah nor Tim was awarded any points at their PIP assessment. Instead, they asked for a mandatory consideration, but were turned down and faced a lengthy wait for an appeal at a tribunal.

“We went to mandatory consideration fully aware that they would just turn that down because that seems to be the standard with them,” Ginny says. “But that was just a step to go to appeal.”

Sarah was only given the lowest rate of PIP after the tribunal, while Tim was awarded his in light of more medical evidence.

Around 56 per cent of PIP assessments resulted in a reward between 2019 and 2024. However, around two-thirds of decisions are overturned at the tribunal stage, independent of the DWP, by a panel of decision-makers, including a judge.

“You have to fight tooth and nail,” Ginny says. “All the government’s talk about ‘people just are getting this too easily’ or ‘supporting people who have the most severe conditions’.

“In my book, my husband has a severe condition and it just feels like they’re redefining disability to suit themselves.”

It remains to be seen whether the government’s concessions over its welfare plans will be enough to appease wavering backbenchers, with MPs set to vote on the measures on Tuesday.

A DWP spokesperson said: “The fact is that PIP assessment suppliers and healthcare professionals are involved in the process but are only one part of the evidence used – they have no role in the decision-making process, and are clearly instructed not to base their opinions solely on the situation seen at assessment.

“We’re creating a sustainable welfare system that genuinely supports sick and disabled people while always protecting those who need it most, and at the heart of this is our review of the PIP assessment to ensure it is fit for the future.

“We will work with disabled people and a range of experts on this as we deliver our Plan for Change.”