Rishi Sunak has been accused of launching a “reckless assault” on disabled people as he plans a crackdown on benefit payments.
A major overhaul of the welfare system could see people with depression and anxiety stripped of their benefits.
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said a “surge” in claims for mental health conditions needed to be tackled.
But critics said the move was about “cutting the benefits bill” regardless of the impact on those receiving the payments.
“Where you have mild depression or anxiety, the best thing to do is not so much a cash transfer, but actually some kind of meaningful support that helps get that person into a position where they’re having a much better life, where work is at the centre of their life,” Stride told The Times.
According to The Daily Telegraph disabled people could see their monthly Personal Independence Payments (PIP) replaced with a voucher system.
PIP replaced the Disability Living Allowance system in 2013 and helps around 3.3 million people with extra costs caused by long-term disability or illness.
James Taylor, the executive director of strategy at disability charity Scope, said: “It’s hard to have any faith that this consultation is about anything other than cutting the benefits bill, no matter the impact.
“Life costs a lot more for disabled people, including people with mental health conditions.
“Threatening to take away the low amount of income PIP provides won’t solve the country’s problems.
“The government needs to end this reckless assault on disabled people and focus on how to fix the real underlying issues.”
Iain Porter, senior policy adviser for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “This is clearly an opportunity for the government to sound tough, but it is on the backs of people who are already facing huge challenges financially as well as with their health.
“Almost two thirds of people in destitution - the most severe form of hardship and one which has risen to nearly four million people in recent years - have a chronic health condition or disability.
“People in this position should not be used as a political football. Even if there is no prospect of these changes coming in ahead of the general election, this rhetoric leaves many facing an uncertain future compounded by misinformation and stigma.
“Reform of disability benefits has been tried before and it has failed before. The government would do better to focus on tackling the causes of ill health affecting the population - such as deep poverty that means millions of people going without essentials needed to keep them warm, clean and fed.”
Labour has not ruled out supporting the changes, as the Conservatives seek to create a dividing line ahead of the election.
Vicky Foxcroft, the shadow minister for disabled people, said the PIP system “isn’t working for disabled people or the taxpayer”.
“On top of that, the Tories have run the health and care system into the ground. Labour will support disabled people to live independently, enable as many as possible to work and fix the NHS to make sure people get the treatment they need.
“We will be looking at the consultation launched today in close detail, along with the Modernising Support Green Paper.
“Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions should not be scapegoated for problems Rishi Sunak and Mel Stride’s own party has created.”
Last month Stride triggered a backlash when he said concern about people’s mental health may have “gone too far”.
He said said people were mistaking the “normal anxieties of life” for having a “serious mental health condition”.