Tories WILL spare carers the benefit cap in huge U-turn after £50,000 High Court defeat

The Tories will spare carers the cruel benefit cap after they were forced into a U-turn by the High Court.

Campaigners are jubilant after a minister slipped out the major change affecting 700,000 people last night in the House of Lords.

They feared the £20,000-a-year limit, £23,000 in London, would be "discrimination" because it would restrict a benefit for what many carers consider a full-time job.

Now it has been confirmed the cap will not apply to payments under the government's £62.10-a-week Carers' Allowance, which was being claimed by 738,000 people last May.

The Department for Work and Pensions claimed the move was to honour the "hugely important contribution carers make to society".

Read more: Mum and FOUR kids forced to sleep in one bed thanks to the benefits cap

But we can reveal they spent £53,000 on lawyers fighting to keep the cap when carers challenged it in the High Court .

Devoted: Carers save the economy billions with what amounts to a full-time job

And just months ago, employment minister Priti Patel told a Commons committee: "We do not accept that carers are unable to work."

The announcement was celebrated by activists including Carers UK.

Chief executive Heléna Herklots said: "This is a significant victory for carers and carers' rights.

"The Government's response goes one step further than complying with the recent High Court judgment, by exempting all carers on Carer's Allowance from the policy.

"It will be welcomed by those carers who are currently affected by the cap, as well as those who were at risk of being affected when the cap is lowered later this year."

Confirmation: The move was announced in the Lords by welfare minister Lord Freud

Shadow employment minister Nick Thomas-Symonds added: ""I'm delighted that the government have bowed to pressure on this and finally decided to exempt carers from the benefit cap.

"It is the right thing to do, which is why Labour MPs and Peers have been calling for it throughout the course of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

"However, it is depressing that the Tories had to be dragged kicking and screaming through the courts to get to this decision.

"New figures uncovered by Labour show that last year the government racked up over £53,000 of fees for just one failed legal case, in a bid to apply the benefit cap to a carer's family.

"This is yet another example of Tory callousness and waste."

Reform: The announcement was made in the House of Lords

The announcement was made during a House of Lords debate by welfare reform minister Lord Freud.

It came after he was put under pressure by Labour's Baroness Pitkeathley, who told him: "The value of unpaid carers' support to the economy is £132 billion every year - the cost of a second health service.

"Indeed without the support from carers, health and social care systems would simply collapse.

"While it is true that some carers combine work and care, for the majority the intensity of their caring role means that this is simply not possible."

She tabled an amendment asking for elements of the cap to be scrapped.

Lord Freud replied: "We want to go further; we will be exempting all recipients of carer's allowance from the benefit cap, whether they are single or part of a couple.

"This approach fits within the wider government strategy to support and invest in carers."

A DWP spokesman said: "In recognition of the hugely important contribution carers make to society, we will be exempting all recipients of Carer's Allowance from the benefit cap."