The House OF Lords have rebuffed Tory plan to cut Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for second time. In January peers voted to remove the cuts to ESA from the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, but MPs in the Commons reinstated the measure. On Monday, the Lords defeated the government again over welfare reform and work bill proposals to cut £30 a week from the benefits of ill and disabled people who have been found unfit to work. The Guardian reports: Peers passed an amendment that calls on ministers to deliver a formal assessment of the likely impact of the cut on the health, finances and work prospects of hundreds of thousands of claimants, who will see their unemployment benefits reduced by £1,500 a year. The 286-219 vote repeats the government defeat on planned cuts to employment and support allowance (ESA) in January, sending the proposal back to the Commons and prolonging the “ping-pong” over the issue between the two houses. MPs voted down the original Lords amendment in the Commons last week, despite a handful of Tory MPs speaking out against the bill. Heidi Allen, MP for South Cambridgeshire, issued a “warning shot” to her own party by saying [...]