Charities have reported a surge in calls and visits to their advice pages following the Government’s planned cuts to welfare.

Mental health charity Mind said people have been left fearful of how changes will affect them, with helpline advisers reporting that some had indicated their level of worry was such that they felt they had “no choice but to end their own life”.

Experts have estimated that around a million people in England and Wales will lose their disability benefits as part of the overhaul.

The people we help are scared. Many were already facing serious financial and health challenges and these proposed changes just add another layer of distress

An official impact assessment is expected to be published on Wednesday as Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her spring statement.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the current benefits system is “morally and economically indefensible”, with the Government estimating its measures will save more than £5 billion-a-year by the end of the decade.

But the announcements have proved unpopular with Labour backbenchers.

Party veteran Diane Abbott said there was “nothing moral” about the plan and accused the Treasury of wishing to “balance the country’s books on the back of the most vulnerable and poor people in this society”.

Changes to eligibility for the main disability benefit, the personal independence payment (Pip), are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings.

The Resolution Foundation think tank has said the tightening of Pip eligibility would mean between 800,000 and 1.2 million people losing support of between £4,200 and £6,300 per year by the end of the decade.

If people lose vital support then it is very likely they will suffer mental and physical health issues as a result

Disability charity Scope said calls to its helpline on the day of the announcement had more than doubled to 344 from 118-a-week earlier, while its online community saw 20,000 interactions on the day compared to 15,000 seven days before.

Mind’s welfare advice line also saw calls rise from 90 to 182, while other information and support lines received more than 2,540 calls, which was a 10% rise on the previous week.

Meanwhile, Citizens Advice saw views of its Pip advice pages rise to almost 80,000 views last week, which was a 44% rise from the week before.

Paul Stewart, welfare benefits specialist at Mind in south-east London, urged the Government to rethink its plans.

He said: “The people we help are scared. Many were already facing serious financial and health challenges and these proposed changes just add another layer of distress.

“People are telling me they don’t know how they will cope, physically, financially and mentally. Not only that, but they feel under attack, stigmatised and that the legitimacy of their conditions is being called into question.”

Laura Canning from Scope said: “Call after call we are hearing from disabled people who simply don’t know how they will cope.”

Warning that people feel “abandoned by the Government”, she said the “consequences of these cuts will be catastrophic”.

Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: “If people lose vital support then it is very likely they will suffer mental and physical health issues as a result. If you’re in poor accommodation, or you’re skipping meals to pay the bills, this will have a detrimental impact on your health.”

The charities’ warnings came as a group of public health experts said further cuts to social security could lead to deaths.

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they said the reforms coming after years of austerity would have a detrimental effect on already-vulnerable people.

One of the group, Professor Gerry McCartney from the University of Glasgow, said: “There is now substantial evidence that cuts to social security since 2010 have fundamentally harmed the health of the UK population.

“Implementing yet more cuts will therefore result in more premature deaths. It is vital that the UK Government understands this evidence and takes a different policy approach.”

Professor Danny Dorling from the University of Oxford said there is a “‘moral case’ to help the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, not to enact measures which we know will cause immense suffering”, while Professor Kat Smith, from the University of Strathclyde, said previous evidence indicated that cutting disabled people’s benefits “will not move people into work – rather, it will cause unnecessary harm”.

She called for a “different policy approach focusing on high quality and more accessible jobs, and ensuring that people have sufficient income to live healthy lives, is required”.

The Government has pledged to invest an additional £1 billion-a-year by 2029/2030 to help support people into work including through one-to-one help and said it will protect disabled people who will never be able to work by scrapping the need for them to have benefits reassessments.