Welfare rebellion looms for Starmer despite concessions to Labour rebels
Ministers hope a partial U-turn will be enough to win over Labour rebels when MPs vote on welfare changes on Tuesday.
The concessions included protecting people claiming personal independence payment (Pip) from changes due to come into effect in November 2026, and rowing back plans to cut the health-related element of universal credit.
But backbench anger has continued to simmer, with a statement from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall laying out the concessions on Monday receiving a negative response.
Asked whether he was 'confident' that the concessions had done enough to secure passage of the Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, disabilities minister Sir Stephen Timms would only tell Sky News: 'I certainly hope it passes.'
Some 126 Labour MPs had previously signed a 'reasoned amendment' proposed by Treasury Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier that would have stopped the legislation if approved.
That rebellion appeared to have been averted after Dame Meg described concessions agreed on Friday as a 'workable compromise'.
But in the Commons on Monday, she was one of several senior Labour figures to raise concerns about the Government's revised proposals, while another MP involved in negotiations, Debbie Abrahams, suggested ministers had rowed back on what had been agreed.
A second amendment rejecting the Bill has been put forward by York Central MP Rachael Maskell with the backing of 138 disability groups, saying disabled people had 'yet to have agency in this process'.
Ms Maskell's amendment is reported to have been signed by only around 35 Labour MPs – far fewer than the 83 needed to overturn Sir Keir's majority, but enough to deliver the largest rebellion of his premiership just before the first anniversary of Labour's election victory.
Other sceptical MPs are expected to abstain on Tuesday, but could vote against the Bill next week if there are no further concessions.
One of the chief concerns revolves around a review of Pip to be carried out by Sir Stephen and 'co-produced' with disabled people.
His review is not expected to report until autumn next year, making it difficult to incorporate his findings into the Pip changes due to take place at the same time.
Ms Abrahams suggested the timing meant the outcome of the review was 'pre-determined', while Sarah Owen, another select committee chairwoman, warned it could create a 'three-tier' benefit system.
Groups including Disability Rights UK and Disabled People Against Cuts criticised the Government's claim that Sir Stephen's review would be 'co-produced' with them and urged Labour rebels to stand firm.
They said: 'The Government have made it very clear that they are intent on slashing the support that so many disabled people rely on to work and live independently, no matter how many disabled people tell them what a harmful policy this will be.'
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party's MPs would vote against the proposals, describing them as 'not serious welfare reform' and saying ministers had 'watered down the small savings Labour were making'.
The original proposals were expected to save £4.8 billion by 2030, but Ms Kendall revealed on Monday that the revised proposals were likely to save less than half that figure.
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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Palestine Action spraying paint is not terrorism. As ministers abuse their powers, I feel a duty to speak out
Strongly worded emails are not doing it. Appeals to MPs are not doing it. Taking to the streets in our hundreds of thousands with banners and placards is not working. Elected representatives from every party in parliament have stood in the Commons and asked the government to act. Some government ministers themselves have condemned Israel's starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. Every poll of public opinion shows that the nation demands we stop arming Israel, and wants to see an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. But none of these things are working. Keir Starmer and his cabinet remain impervious to all calls for humanitarian intervention, and Israel is still killing children in Gaza with the support of the British government. To proscribe as 'terrorist' a non-violent direct action group such as Palestine Action threatens the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, and of peaceful protest. Surely the government should only ever apply the Terrorism Act with the utmost restraint and precision. Otherwise it allows the state to repress civil liberties that have been dearly fought for and won, and which represent the bedrock of our democracy. Those civil liberties have already come under real and dangerous threat. The powers given to the police have incrementally increased to an alarming degree, owing in part to the Terrorism Act of 2000 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022. These have both led to the right of public protest being seriously eroded, and afforded the police much greater powers and significantly less accountability. We have for some time seen these powers being used to suppress lawful protest and to detain peaceful protesters. In addition, leaving aside its members, the proscription of Palestine Action will directly affect many other activists who are deeply concerned about the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. Even to be seen to support PA's non-violent direct action will be to risk being criminalised. The government's response to embarrassing security breaches at RAF bases by Palestine Action seems disproportionate, and highlights, I think, the influence on them of vested interests. There has long been a campaign by senior rightwing politicians, arms company executives and pro-Israel lobby groups to shut down Palestine Action and have it proscribed. Lockheed Martin UK is a key manufacturer of parts for the F-35 fighter jets that have helped Israel flatten the Gaza Strip, kill more than 56,000 people and create more child amputees per capita than anywhere else in the world. The government ended direct sales to Israel of some weapons, but created an 'F-35 exemption' allowing sales of these parts to continue to reach Israel via the US, where the planes are assembled. The Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems also operates on UK soil, and our government has lucrative bilateral deals with the company. As far back as 2022 the then home secretary, Priti Patel, held a meeting with Martin Fausset, the CEO of Elbit Systems in the UK, to discuss how to deal with Palestine Action. The definition of terrorism as laid out in the Terrorism Act of 2000 is clear, and includes 'serious damage to property'. Does spraying red paint on to metal constitute serious damage? The condemnation of this spraying of red paint on to planes as expressed by the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, does not appear to be matched by any equivalent condemnation by her of red blood sprayed on to the tented walls of Gaza. So yes, crimes concerning damage to property have been committed, but there are already laws in place to deal with them. Labelling these as terrorism only serves to deepen the UK government's complicity in the war crimes being committed in Palestine. In a further act of desperation, efforts have been made to try to undermine the motives of Palestine Action by making a tenuous link to Iran, with unnamed Home Office sources telling newspapers it is investigating the group's finances. Smear campaigns such as this are part of a wider policy by government to intimidate and clamp down on dissent. I have had a small taste of this myself. On 18 January, I attended a rally in Whitehall organised by Stop the War – and noticed immediately that the tactics of the police that day seemed to be markedly different. Present in their thousands, they were already kettling people at the start of the event, and behaving in a manner that seemed aggressive and provocative. The march to the BBC, which had been planned to protest against its coverage of the conflict, had been prohibited by the Met at short notice, and the gathering was confined to Whitehall. 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In Gaza, the world is watching the most heinous acts of violence that I have witnessed in my lifetime. It is as if the skin has been ripped off the face of humanity to reveal terrifying depths of sadism and depravity. I am intensely aware of this thought: I do not want to find myself at the end of my life looking back at this time regretting that I could have done something and didn't – that I was too frightened to speak out, or to act. Palestine Action and its supporters will have no such regrets. Our current British government, however, may well. Juliet Stevenson is an award-winning actor Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Glasgow Times
37 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer abandons key welfare reforms in face of Labour revolt
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Glasgow Times
38 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Labour rebels offered 11th-hour concession over welfare reform
Changes to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip) could be delayed until after a review of the key disability benefit instead of coming into force in November 2026 as planned. The latest concession follows a partial U-turn last week in the face of a possible defeat over the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. The legislation faces its first Commons vote on Tuesday night and the 11th-hour concession on timing for the changes suggests the Labour hierarchy is still concerned about the scale of the revolt, which is set to be the largest of Sir Keir Starmer's premiership. Disability minister Sir Stephen Timms told MPs that the Government had listened to the concerns raised about the timing of the changes. The climbdown will cause a major headache for Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the welfare squeeze was originally meant to save £4.8 billion a year, which was subsequently reduced to £2.3 billion when the Bill was first watered down. Tuesday's changes leave any future savings uncertain as the scale of the squeeze on Pip is unclear. Sir Stephen's intervention, which came in the middle of debate on the legislation, followed frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Cabinet ministers, Sir Keir himself and wavering Labour MPs. Some 39 Labour MPs have signed an amendment which would see the Bill fall at its first hurdle in the Commons. A previous effort to kill the Bill had attracted more than 120 Labour supporters, but was shelved after the first partial U-turn on the legislation last week, which restricted the Pip changes to new claimants from November 2026. That date has now been abandoned in the latest climbdown, with any changes now only coming after Sir Stephen's review of the Pip assessment process. Labour rebel ringleader Rachael Maskell said the situation was 'a complete farce' (Richard Townshend/UK Parliament) Sir Stephen acknowledged 'concerns that the changes to Pip are coming ahead of the conclusions of the review of the assessment that I will be leading'. He said the Government would now 'only make changes to Pip eligibility activities and descriptors following that review', which is due to conclude in the autumn of 2026. The concession appeared to have won round some Labour doubters. Josh Fenton-Glynn, who was one of the 126 Labour MPs who signed the original rebel amendment to the welfare reform Bill last week, described the move as 'really good news'. He said he wanted to support the Government at 'every opportunity' and was glad changes to personal independence payment eligibility would be delayed until after the Timms review. But other Labour MPs appeared exasperated, with one telling the PA news agency that no-one 'knew what they were voting on anymore'. And rebel ringleader Rachael Maskell said she was determined to press for a vote on her 'reasoned amendment' which would halt the legislation in its tracks. 'The whole Bill is now unravelling and is a complete farce,' she said. This is an utter capitulation. Labour's welfare bill is now a TOTAL waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does NOT control spending. It's pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern. — Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 1, 2025 'What it won't do is stop the suffering of disabled people which is why we are determined to go ahead with the reasoned amendment and attempt to vote down the Bill at second reading.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused ministers of 'utter capitulation' and said the legislation was now 'pointless'. She said: 'They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern.'
