Keir Starmer faces fresh rebellion threat over Universal Credit cut
The current bill, which was gutted of controversial cuts to Personal Independence Payments (Pip) in a last-minute U-turn, still retains the reduction in the health top-up of Universal Credit.
As it stands, the extra payment is set to be cut for new claimants from £97 per week to £50 per week – a reduction to £217.26 per month.
READ MORE: Rachel Reeves breaks silence on tears in the House of Commons
Burgon's amendment would reverse this cut, keeping the health element at its current rate of £423.27.
It is estimated the UK Government's changes would affect more than 750,000 people and result in an annual loss of income of £3000 per person.
It is understood the amendment has the backing of more than 25 MPs, including 20 Labour MPs.
If selected for debate when the Commons debates the remaining stages of the welfare bill on Wednesday, it could trigger yet another bruising backbench rebellion for Keir Starmer.
READ MORE: PM takes blame for welfare U-turn as he gives full backing to Chancellor
The Prime Minister's authority was dealt a blow earlier this week when the threat of a substantial rebellion saw the UK Government scrap much of its welfare bill mid-debate.
Burgon said: 'Despite welcome promises regarding Pip, a huge cut for sick and disabled people remains at the heart of this Bill.
'This cruel and unnecessary halving of the Universal Credit health element will see £2 billion per year slashed from vital support that sick and disabled people rely on.
'The Government needs to scrap this proposal. There should be no two-tier system for disability support.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
4 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Scots MP blasts Nicola Sturgeon for refusing to say she was wrong on gender reform in book
Joani Reid said the former first minister's "deranged gender reform bill... would have endangered thousands of women." A Scottish Labour MP has blasted Nicola Sturgeon for failing to "admit she was wrong" about gender reform in her book. Joani Reid said the former first minister's "deranged gender reform bill... would have endangered thousands of women." She also blasted Sturgeon's memoir - which was released last week - as "self-serving" with "all the same narcissistic traits, arrogance and moral superiority we saw from her in government." East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Reid told the Record: "It's hard to think of a fall from grace so spectacular - Nicola Sturgeon was once hailed across the UK, including by people who should have known better, as some sort of progressive beacon. It all went to her head and she got drunk on her own hype. "Her deranged 'gender reform' bill would have allowed creepy men pretending to be women access to our toilets and female-only spaces. She ignored legal and expert warnings and anyone raising common sense safety issues was branded as bigots. "It was a crazy plan that would have endangered thousands of women. Fortunately, it was outside the powers of the Scottish Government, but they spent a fortune getting humiliated in the Supreme Court and yet she still can't admit she was wrong. "This self-serving, self-regarding memoir is full of petty score-settling and reveals all the same narcissistic traits, arrogance and moral superiority we saw from her in government. "Scotland needed a leader who would protect our rights, not sacrifice them on the altar of political vanity. Beyond the gimmicks and woke virtue signalling, she achieved little of substance during her eight years at the helm, and it all caught up with her in the end." Sturgeon's memoir, Frankly, was officially released on Thursday. Copies of it were on sale in Waterstones shops earlier in the week. In it, she accused JK Rowling of helping create a a "toxic" climate around Scotland's gender reform debate. The MSP said the Harry Potter author's decision to wear a T-shirt branding her a 'destroyer of women's rights' marked the point at which "rational debate" on the issue became "impossible" and "any hope of finding common ground disappeared". Sturgeon's Government passed a bill which would have made it possible for trans people to change gender without a medical diagnosis. But the bill was stopped from becoming law by Tory Scotland Secretary Alister Jack, who said it breached UK Equalities law. At the same time, there was public outrage after convicted double rapist Isla Bryson - who identified as female - was initially sent to a women's prison. Sturgeon then refused to say if Bryson was a man or woman, but said last week that male rapists should "probably" lose the right to choose their gender. Earlier this year there was a landmark ruling where the Supreme Court said that the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. The SNP was approached for comment.
Rhyl Journal
2 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
British manufacturers lagging behind international competitors on automation
Use of robotics and AI systems was poor, with training of people in relevant digital skills well below what is needed to catch up, it was warned. The report by Make UK and Sage said nearly half of British manufacturers identify a lack of technical skills as the biggest hurdle to improving their use of innovative advanced technologies. Projects which do start often stall after implementation stage, because companies cannot find the help and advice they need to make the technologies work well. Seamus Nevin, chief economist at Make UK said: 'Time and again, we hear from small and medium-sized manufacturers that they're keen to adopt new technologies, but are being held back by fragmented support, complex funding systems, and a lack of accessible, appropriate digital skills training. 'If we want to unlock a £150 billion boost to UK GDP by 2035, we must make it easier for SMEs to adopt automation and AI.' A Government spokesperson said: 'We are taking a range of actions to remove the barriers holding back growth and unleash the potential of AI in our economy, including through the AI opportunities action plan. 'Our modern industrial strategy has also introduced ambitious plans to drive growth and investment across the UK, and our Plan for Change will ensure our country continues to be the best place to invest and do business.'
Rhyl Journal
2 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Donald Trump is ‘not a force for good' London Mayor says
Sir Sadiq dismissed jibes that President Trump made against him on a recent visit to Scotland, where he claimed the London Mayor was 'a nasty person' who has 'done a terrible job'. The Labour politician said remarks such as those were 'water off a duck's back'. However, he told an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe it sometimes felt like he was 'nine years old again' and 'in the school playground'. But Sir Sadiq, speaking at the Political Party show with comedian Matt Forde, hit back at the US President, saying: 'Somebody who has views like he does about black people, about women, about gays, about Muslims, about Mexicans, thinks I'm nasty. 'Really. He is the leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful man in the world, and really.' He spoke out as he said that records showed since the middle of January this year – when Mr Trump began his second term in the White House – and July 'there have never been more Americans applying to British citizenship and living in London'. The Mayor said: 'So I think Americans have got good taste by and large.' He added that he hoped the President would come to London during his state visit to the UK next month, with Sir Sadiq stressing the 'diversity' of the capital was a 'strength, not a weakness'. Speaking about this diversity, he insisted: 'I think it makes us stronger not weaker, richer not poorer. 'And when President Trump says some of the things he does, it brings from the periphery to the mainstream, views that are potentially dangerous. 'He inadvertently – I'm not going to suggest he does it deliberately – he inadvertently could be radicalising people with views that could lead to them doing things that are dangerous.' He spoke out about fears that minorities 'could be treated less favourably because of the views of the President of the USA' as he accused Mr Trump of 'using London and our diversity as a political football, as a proxy for a culture war'. The London Mayor continued: 'On a personal level, it is water off a duck's back, but we can't run away from the fact that there are some really serious challenges we face as a western society and President Trump, in my view, I speak generally, isn't a force for good.' However he insisted that he would be 'more than happy to meet President Trump' saying he would seek to show him that it is 'possible to be proud to be a westerner and a proud to be Muslim, that it is possible to be British, and proud to be British, and be of Pakistani origin and be a law abiding citizen and we aren't three headed monsters'. The Labour politician said: 'I suspect President Trump may have formed a view of Muslims because of the actions of a small minority of really bad people who are terrorists and use Islam in a perverted way. 'What I would want President Trump to know is that is a very small fraction of Muslims across the globe. 'So if there was an opportunity to meet President Trump, I would be more than happy to do so.'
