DWP minister urges people to stop claiming the benefit system causes suicides

A Tory DWP minister has demanded people stop claiming the benefits system can be directly linked to suicides. Sarah Newton said MPs should be 'careful' before making 'allegations' about the regime - which includes fit-for-work tests, underpayments in error and cuts under Universal Credit . And she brushed off calls for an 'investigation' into 20,000 people who died waiting to see if they were owed sickness benefit. The plea came as Ms Newton answered questions on a £1.7bn blunder that paid 210,000 people too little Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) as far back as 2011.