Labour in chaos as rebels demand more welfare concessions
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall introduced changes to the bill, including protecting current Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and promising a review, to quell the rebellion.
Senior figures like Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have criticized the reforms, with Mr. Burnham calling the amendments a "half U-turn."
Rebel Labour MPs are demanding further changes or the withdrawal of the "rushed" legislation, with some suggesting a delay until a promised review is completed.
Concerns persist over the financial savings of the cuts, now estimated at £2.5 billion, and polling indicates low public trust in Labour 's handling of disability benefits.
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Rhyl Journal
32 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
PM braced for revolt over welfare after defending his record of a year in power
Some 39 Labour MPs have indicated they will vote to halt an overhaul of the benefits system on Tuesday evening, though that number is far lower than the 83 needed to overturn the Prime Minister's working majority. However, more are expected to join them in what could be the largest revolt of Sir Keir's time in office. Ahead of the parliamentary showdown, the Prime Minister insisted at a meeting with his senior ministers that the Government could look back with a 'real sense of pride and achievement' as the July 5 anniversary of his first year in office nears. Ministers have given working people a 'chance to thrive, not just survive', Sir Keir also told the Cabinet meeting, according to a No 10 spokesman. Downing Street pointed to trade deals, economic growth, the extra long-term investment in the spending review, and a cut in NHS waiting lists among the Government's achievements one year on. The spokesman added: '(The Prime Minister) said the Government's work is all designed and focused on improving the lives of working people and giving them the chance to thrive, not just survive, and the Government should be proud of those achievements as a team.' Cabinet ministers, and even Sir Keir himself, were said to be involved in efforts to persuade Labour MPs not to join the rebels ahead of the crunch Commons debate. Ministers hope a partial U-turn on the benefit cuts, which will protect existing claimants of personal independence payments (Pip) and the health element of universal credit, will be enough to win over Labour rebels. As the second reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill began in the Commons, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said reforms to the welfare system are needed to ensure its longevity. 'I do not believe that this is sustainable if we want a welfare state that protects people who most need our help for generations to come,' the senior minister said. She added: 'There is no responsibility in leaving our system of social security to continue as it is, and risk support for it becoming so frayed that it is no longer there to provide a safety net for those who can never work, and who most need our help and support.' To see off the threat of far greater rebellion by some 126 Labour MPs led by Treasury Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, the Government last week softened the impact of its changes to protect some 370,000 existing Pip claimants who had been set to lose out following reassessment. Ministers also committed to a review of the system, involving disabled people and led by disabilities minister Sir Stephen Timms, and unfreezing the higher universal credit rate for those already claiming the health-related element. As a result of the U-turn, the reforms are expected to save less than half the £5 billion the Government had expected from its initial proposals. In the Commons, Ms Kendall faced warnings the Timms review could be published after the reforms themselves are implemented. She insisted any changes to be made following the review will be done so 'as soon as is practically possible via primary or secondary legislation', though Downing Street would earlier not guarantee Sir Stephen's review would be completed by the time reforms are implemented. No 10 was also insistent that Government modelling, which predicts the welfare proposals will push 150,000 more people into poverty by 2030, was 'subject to uncertainty'. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Government's plans were 'driven not by principle but by panic'. Indicating that the Tories will not support the Government, Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: 'By 2030, on this Government's spending plans, we will hit £100 billion on health and disability benefits alone, that is more than what we spend on defence, and this should make everyone in this House stop and think, because this Bill does nothing to fix that problem, and that is why we cannot support it.' She described the Bill as a 'fudge', adding: 'A fundamental and serious programme to reform our welfare system is required, and this Bill is not it.' Rachael Maskell, the leading force of the rebellion which seeks to halt the Bill in its tracks on Tuesday night, urged MPs to join her in the voting lobbies. The York Central MP told the Commons: 'These Dickensian cuts belong to a different era and a different party. 'They are far from what this Labour Party is for, a party to protect the poor, as is my purpose, for I am my brother's keeper.' Ahead of the Commons debate, Ms Maskell indicated she believed 'many more' Labour MPs than the 39 who had signed her 'reasoned amendment' would join her in rebelling. The Liberal Democrats are also expected to back the rebel amendment, the party's work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling told the Commons. Ministers have been coy about whether rebel Labour MPs will face disciplinary action, with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds telling broadcasters he was 'not aware' they would lose the party whip, but said 'those issues are for the chief whip'. Whatever people's views about the concessions, surely everyone can see the process here is ALL wrong? Third Reading in eight days? A timetable like that diminishes the role of MPs in getting this legislation right, shuts out disabled people and puts too many at risk. — Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) July 1, 2025 Elsewhere, critic of the Bill Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, hit out at the parliamentary process it will undergo, claiming it was all wrong. On social media site X, he wrote: 'Third Reading in eight days? A timetable like that diminishes the role of MPs in getting this legislation right, shuts out disabled people and puts too many at risk.'
BBC News
35 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Radical changes to prisons needed to cut reoffending'
A bishop is calling for radical changes to the criminal justice system to reduce reoffending. The Church of England Bishop for Prisons, the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, believes more community sentences should be used for the "80% of people jailed for non-violent crimes".Bishop Treweek, who is also Bishop of Gloucester, is gathering teenagers' views on how the system should be reformed ahead of a meeting with MPs in December. She said: "I'm never condoning crime but we need to look at the big picture and live somethings radically differently and that's where the voices of young people are going to be so crucial." She is urging 13 to 18 year olds to share their views about the prison system in her online before Christmas, Bishop Treweek will then take a group of young people to Houses of Parliament to speak and present the survey findings to MPs and peers. "We have the highest prison population in western Europe, we have to ask ourselves why," she said."Everything seems to be geared towards the fact our prisons are overcrowded, therefore, the logic goes: 'We need to build more prisons', 'we need to punish people harder'."Yet, when people come out of these very overcrowded prisons, the rate of reoffending is really high."She added that if you can keep people, who are not a danger to the public, in the community, connected with family and friends, their place to live and their job, that is "going to transform our communities".Being "obsessed with punishment" does not change things, and we need a "big holistic look" at the system, she added. "If we want to change people and transform our communities we have to think far more creatively. "If you lock someone up for five, 10, 15 years, but actually you don't have anyway of helping people transform their lives, when they come out, they won't be changed," she said. Bishop Treweek said "creative ideas are coming from young people"."I'm really hopeful that, as they get older and take up positions in society, they will be the ones shaping the future of our criminal justice system," she added.
Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Stop briefing against McSweeney, Starmer tells Cabinet
Sir Keir Starmer has warned his senior ministers that briefings against his chief of staff have to stop. On Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister told the Cabinet that he 'will not countenance' criticism of Morgan McSweeney, his controversial top adviser in No 10 who faced calls for a 'regime change'. Mr McSweeney, regarded by many as Sir Keir's political brain, has been accused of creating a 'bunker mentality' in Downing Street that has isolated backbenchers. He has been widely blamed for provoking the welfare rebellion that forced the Government into another U-turn, prompting speculation over his position. Many rebels believe he is behind what they regard as Right-wing policies designed to stop working-class Labour voters defecting to Reform UK, and hold him responsible for steering Sir Keir in what they see as the wrong direction. Last week, he was one of a handful of figures helping to negotiate the new terms of the welfare package, after the original proposals were ripped up to stave off a massive rebellion. He was the target of vicious briefings from angry backbenchers, some of whom talked about ousting him in a 'regime change'. Questions over Mr McSweeney's future were further fuelled by Downing Street's refusal on Thursday to say whether Sir Keir still had full confidence in him. At the time, a No 10 spokesman said: 'We would never comment on members of Downing Street staff. The Prime Minister is fully focused on the job in hand.' 'We will not turn on each other' But Sir Keir sought to put the speculation to bed as the Cabinet met ahead of the crunch welfare vote on Tuesday, insisting his top team had to stick together. In remarks first reported by The Times, he said: 'We will learn from our mistakes, but we will not turn in on each other. 'We will not resile from our record of achievement and we will not turn on our staff – including our chief of staff, without whom none of us would be sitting around this Cabinet table.' He added that briefings against Mr McSweeney 'should not happen'. Sir Keir's warning was said to have been warmly received by the Cabinet, with speculation over the staffing in No 10 seen as a distraction from the Government's core aims.
