PLANS by David Cameron to cut benefits for people with obesity and addiction problems were yesterday attacked by charities and the Scottish Government.

The Prime Minister was accused of targeting the sick and vulnerable after he announced a review of the current sickness benefits system. It will focus on whether those with "treatable" conditions such as obesity, and alcohol and drug addiction problems should lose benefits if they fail to "engage" with treatment.

Announcing the review, Cameron said: "Too many people are stuck on sickness benefits because of issues that could be addressed but instead are not.

"Some have drug or alcohol problems, but refuse treatment. In other cases people have problems with their weight that could be addressed, but instead a life on benefits rather than work becomes the choice.

"It is not fair to ask hard-working taxpayers to fund the benefits of people who refuse to accept the support and treatment that could help them get back to a life of work."

The UK Government says around 100,000 people with conditions such as obesity and addiction claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), with no requirement to undertake treatment.

Cameron has now asked Department of Health adviser Prof Dame Carol Black, to examine whether benefits should be withheld from those who refuse to "engage" with a recommended treatment plan.

While some welfare powers and disability benefits are being devolved to Scotland, ESA will remain under the control of Westminster.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "This is a further example of the Westminster government's austerity measures targeting the sick and vulnerable.

"We believe people should be supported into work, not sanctioned.

"The UK government could impose these sanctions on people in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament and this demonstrates again why the Smith Commission does not go nearly far enough in devolving powers to Scotland."

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart, a member of Holyrood's welfare reform committee, said: "David Cameron has once again shown that he is far more interested in cheap headlines than in actually addressing serious problems.

"The fact that he is willing to treat obesity and addiction as an opportunity to score political points shows just why Westminster cannot be trusted to keep making welfare decisions on Scotland's behalf. "

David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, backed the aim of securing meaningful employment for those with addiction problems - but warned threatening to cut benefits would not work.

He said: "People with drug problems are a marginalised group, many with underlying issues of trauma and mental health.

"Threatening people with sanctions if they don't attend treatment is the wrong approach and in many cases will make things worse.

"Rather than further sticks we need more carrots to encourage people to engage with services which offer realistic routes into the labour market which are realistic about timescales and the intensive support required."

Susannah Gilbert, of obesity support group Big Matters, said it was naive to think that most people with weight problems did not want to change their lives.

She added: "Many of them have tried every diet under the sun and they still have a weight problem. So to think that they don't want to have help isn't true."

Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who had a well-publicised battle with alcohol and is an Alcohol Concern ambassador, also spoke out against the plans, saying that addiction was an "illness, not a lifestyle choice".

He branded the announcement "embarrassing" at a time when other world leaders were focusing on issues like the fighting in Ukraine and the Greek economy.

He said: "People that are walking around London and the rest of the country today, as they walk over people in sleeping bags on the streets, just ask themselves if those people really, really chose to be there.

"They did not choose to be there - they are alcoholics or drug addicts because it is a disease, it is an illness, that is how it should be treated.

"To say we are not going to give you benefit because you are fat, we are not going to give you benefit because you drink too much - just think about what we have become as a country that that is our Prime Minister and that is how they treat a serious illness."