PM ‘incapable of sticking to a decision' after welfare U-turn
The reforms would only have made 'modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill', but Sir Keir Starmer was 'too weak to hold the line', the Conservative Party leader is expected to say.
In a speech to the Local Government Association Annual Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch will criticise Sir Keir for creating a 'punishing welfare trap that shuts people out of going back to work'.
The Labour party is 'making everything worse', she will say (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
'This week, the Prime Minister backed down on limited reforms that would have made modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill,' she will say.
'He was too weak to hold the line.
'The result? A punishing welfare trap that shuts people out of going back to work.
'Right now, Labour are making everything worse. And Keir Starmer sums up exactly what's wrong with politics today.
'Now that his backbenchers smell blood, there's almost certainly another climb down on the two-child benefit cap in the offing.
'Labour told us 'the adults were back in charge', but this is actually amateur hour. The Prime Minister is incapable of sticking to a decision.
'If he can't make relatively small savings to a benefits bill that is set to exceed £100 billion by 2030, how can we expect him to meet his promised 5% defence spending, or ever take the tough decisions necessary to bring down the national debt?'
On Saturday, the Prime Minister told the Welsh Labour conference the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way'.
In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference, he said: 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work,' the Prime Minister said.
'Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control.
'Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way.'
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The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Kendall steps up efforts to win over Labour welfare rebels, as Burnham tells MPs to vote against ‘unfair' bill
Update: Date: 2025-06-30T08:15:54.000Z Title: Clive Efford. Content: Good morning. Last week, on their Political Currency podcast, Ed Balls and George Osborne were talking about the Labour rebellion over the legislation to cut disability benefits – the universal credit (UC) and personal independence payment (Pip) bill – and Osborne asked for an example of an MP who would never normally rebel against the government because they were inherently mainstream and loyal, but who was opposed to this plan. Balls menioned Clive Efford, the veteran MP for Eltham and Chiselhurst. They were speaking on Thursday, before the government announced massive concessions to the bill worth £3bn a year. Those concessions have won over some Labour MPs who were going to vote against the bill tomorrow, and Keir Starmer, instead of facing certain defeat, now seems likely to win the vote – although with a much reduced majority. But many moderates are still opposed and this morning one of them was on the Today programme. It was He told the programme that he was still not in a position to support the bill because the government has not yet published the full assessment of how people will be affected, and whether (as ministers claim) the cuts won't lead to more poverty because people will get jobs instead. He said: There are still £3.5 billion-worth of savings that are required in these measures and we don't yet know the poverty impact that they will have. The original motion [the reasoned amendment to kill the bill, signed by Efford and more than 120 other Labour MPs] was asking for more time for us to understand the impact of these changes and that still applies to those people who will be adversely affected. I think there are a lot of people waiting to hear what the government is saying today who may be inclined to accept what the government has done. For me the situation hasn't changed for those people who will be adversely affected and until we know and understand the impact on them, we shouldn't be taking what I think is a leap in the dark. There are choices that the government can make here; there are other places it can go to identify the resources. What we want to see, and fully support, is measures the government is putting in the palace to assist people to move into work, the right to try, we support, but we can't guarantee the savings. When you're asking for £3.5bn regardless of the impact of those changes that can only adversely affect people who are in the benefit system. We cannot make assumptions about how much we can save in the welfare system ahead of actually bringing in those changes and seeing how they work. As Pippa Crerar and Rowena Mason report in their overnight story, Efford is far from alone; Vicky Foxcroft, who resigned as a government whip over the cuts, has not been won over by the concessions. Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is expected to make a Commons statement today giving more details of the concessions. The Department for Work and Pensions issued some details overnight. At the weekend the continuity rebels won the backing of Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham, who has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks in setting out an alternative, more muscular, soft left alternative to what Keir Starmer is offering, was at Glastonbury where he urged Labour MPs to vote down the bill. As Huffpost UK reports, he said: What's been announced is half a U-turn, a 50% U-turn. In my view I'd still hope MPs vote against the whole bill when it comes before parliament … [Labour MPs] face the prospect, if they accept this package, someone could come to their surgery in two years saying 'why did you vote to make me £6,000 worse off than someone exactly the same, but who was protected because they were an existing claimant'? I hope they think carefully before the vote, because the vote will create that unfairness and divide in disabled people. Here is the agenda for the day. 10.30am: The high court will deliver its judgment on a legal challenge to the government's policy on arms exports to Israel brought by human rights groups. 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. 2.30pm: John Healey, the defence secretary, takes questions in the Commons. After 3.30pm: Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is expected to make a statement to MPs about the government concessions on the UC and Pip bill. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @ The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Welfare concessions to be set out before key vote
The government is to release more details about the concessions it has made over proposed welfare changes, as ministers attempt to quell a rebellion of Labour and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the government is aiming to deliver a "fairer, more compassionate" benefits system, ahead of a vote on its reforms on week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced into a U-turn to salvage his benefits changes after more than 120 Labour MPs threatened to vote down his deal with rebel MPs suggests the welfare reforms will only save £2bn a year, rather than the £5bn they were expected to save by 2030. The Conservatives said ministers had wasted an opportunity to reform welfare and have called for cuts to mental health benefits for all but the worst original welfare reform bill included proposals to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip) and cut the health-related element of universal an amendment that would have halted the bill at its first hurdle was signed by 126 Labour backbenchers, who argued the plans were rushed and would push vulnerable disabled people into it became clear the bill would fall, the prime minister offered major concessions to rebel MPs - including limiting Pip cuts to only new government also reversed its plans to freeze the health-related component of universal credit, and the payment will now rise in line with inflation for existing will outline the terms of a review of the Pip assessment, to be led by disabilities minister Sir Stephen Timms in collaboration with disabled regulations that would bring into effect the right for people receiving health and disability benefits to try work without fear of reassessment will also be laid in Parliament. But dozens of Labour MPs still have misgivings about the benefits changes and could defy the government in Tuesday's Efford, the Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst since 1997, told the BBC he would still oppose the government's welfare plans despite significant asked whether he had changed his mind, he said: "No, I've not, I'm afraid."There are still £3.5bn worth of savings that are required in these measures and we don't yet know the poverty impact that they will have."Efford said he thought many of his Labour colleagues were "waiting to hear what the government are saying today" and how the amended proposals would impact benefits added: "Until we know and understand the impact on them we shouldn't be taking what I see as a leap in the dark." Efforts continued through the weekend to talk to Labour MPs about the changes, and Kendall will hope to provide further reassurance to those still wavering ahead of Tuesday's vote on the second reading of the new law, called the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment said: "We must build a welfare system that provides security for those who cannot work and the right support for those who can."Too often, disabled people feel trapped, worried that if they try to work, they could lose the support they depend on."That is why we are taking action to remove those barriers, support disabled people to live with dignity and independence, and open routes into employment for those who want to pursue it."The Liberal Democrats are planning to vote against the bill and have called for the government to bring forward its programme to help people into work more leader Daisy Cooper said: "Liberal Democrats simply cannot support any measures that make things harder for unpaid carers, disabled people who rely on support with daily tasks in order to stay employed, and those whose disabilities mean that they will never be able to work."Ministers hope their reforms will boost employment among benefits recipients, at a time when 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long-term nothing changes, the health and disability benefits bill is forecast to reach £70bn a year by the end of the decade, a level of spending the government says is "unsustainable".
Daily Mirror
22 minutes ago
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