Claimants set to lose disability benefits 'will get payments for an extra three months' as Keir Starmer desperately tries to quell Labour revolt

Daily Mail​

20 hours ago

Claimants losing disability benefits could keep them for an extra three months as Keir Starmer scrambles to defuse a Labour revolt.
The transitional arrangements for proposed curbs to handouts look set to be extended from four weeks.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said she is planning changes to the package of welfare curbs to 'protect those most in need'.
But the government is desperate to avoid substantive concessions that could stop the measures trimming £5billion off the expected benefits bill by the end of the decade.
The proposals include tightening of the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability benefit in England, and cutting the sickness-related element of universal credit (UC).
Dozens of Labour MPs last month urged the PM to press pause, warning the current plans are 'impossible to support'.
But Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted yesterday that the government was 'not going to be changing' the package before crunch votes.
'Even with these changes we will substantially be increasing the amount of money we are paying in sickness and disability benefits during the course of this parliament,' she said.
There have been hints that the government will move on easing the two-child benefit cap, another flashpoint with Labour backbenchers.
Ms Kendall told the Guardian there will be extra protections added to the Bill when it is published next week. The transitional period when people would continue getting Pip could be lengthened from four weeks to three months.
She said: 'When we set out our reforms we promised to protect those most in need, particularly those who can never work.
'I know from my 15 years as a constituency MP how important this is. It is something I take seriously and will never compromise on.
'That is why we are putting additional protections on the face of the Bill to support the most vulnerable and help people affected by the changes.
'These protections will be written into law, a clear sign they are non-negotiable.'
Labour MP Rachel Maskell told Playbook: 'These changes will not stop people getting ill and needing support, but will cause sick people to deteriorate and lose their independence.
'I will have to vote against something which will cause such harm to my constituents — too many lives will be put at risk if they press ahead.'
A Government impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, across England, Scotland and Wales, could fall into relative poverty after housing costs as a result of the changes.