Starmer seeking to quell revolt over welfare reform plan
Downing Street insiders said talks were taking place with Labour MPs about the legislation after 126 of them publicly backed a move to block the legislation.
The first vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is due to take place on Tuesday and a concerted effort has been launched by ministers to win round potential rebels.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces the most serious revolt of his premiership (Ben Stansall/PA)
A No 10 source said: 'The broken welfare system is failing the most vulnerable and holding too many people back.
'It's fair and responsible to fix it. There is broad consensus across the party on this.'
The source insisted the reforms were 'underpinned by… Labour values'.
They said: 'Delivering fundamental change is not easy, and we all want to get it right, so of course we're talking to colleagues about the Bill and the changes it will bring, we want to start delivering this together on Tuesday.'
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said talks between backbenchers and the Government were 'ongoing' as six more Labour MPs added their names to the rebel amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks.
The reasoned amendment argues that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed.
Angela Rayner sought to reassure backbenchers on Wednesday (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The new signatories include the Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee chairman Toby Perkins, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, Newcastle upon Tyne MP Mary Glindon and Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards.
North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell and Colchester MP Pam Cox, both of whom won their seats in the party's 2024 landslide election victory, have also added their names.
The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126.
The plans restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit.
The Government hopes the changes will get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year.
Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes.
But the fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to the 'reasoned amendment' calling for a change of course shows how entrenched the opposition remains.
One backbencher preparing to vote against the Bill told the PA news agency: 'A lot of people have been saying they're upset about this for months.
'To leave it until a few days before the vote, it's not a very good way of running the country.
'It's not very grown-up.'
They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: 'I don't think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.'
The Daily Telegraph reported that potential concessions being considered include a commitment to speed up payment of support to help people back into work and offering assurances that reviews of policies in this area will be published.
Meanwhile, The Times reported some MPs opposed to the plans had blamed Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and suggested the time had come for 'regime change' in Downing Street.
Other senior Labour figures outside Parliament, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, have publicly expressed their opposition to the plans.
Meanwhile, the Tories seem unlikely to lend the Government their support, with leader Kemi Badenoch setting out conditions for doing so, including a commitment to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and further cut to the benefits bill.
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