'For me that's a red line': Labour MP with disabled son says he can't vote for benefits changes

ITV News

24-06-2025

North Somerset's Labour MP has said he is prepared to vote against the government on controversial changes to benefits, which he believes would have a detrimental impact on his disabled son's future.
Sadik Al-Hassan told ITV West Country: "I don't think I could ever vote for something that would make his life in the future worse, or other people like him, and for me that's a red line."
The Labour MP is one of more than 120 who have signed an amendment that would block cuts to disability and sickness-related benefits payments, in a government bid to save £5bn a year on the welfare bill by 2030.
It's a rebellion significant enough in size to wipe out Labour's majority in the House of Commons, but Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on the plans and insisted he intends to "press ahead" with next week's vote.
"Nobody in North Somerset put me here just to rubber stamp and approve legislation," Al-Hassan said.
"They want me to read it, understand it, and vote on what I think is right. They want me to make a call on what I think would be best for North Somerset.
"It is tough sometimes to stand up and say, 'actually, I disagree.'"
The Labour MP was joined by the Forest of Dean's Matt Bishop and Stroud's Dr Simon Opher in publicly expressing discomfort with the changes, while ITV West Country understands a number of other MPs in the West Country remain hesitant to back them.
Among the most unpopular is a change to the way personal independence payments (PIP) are granted, meaning people with less severe conditions are at risk of losing out on the benefit that helps with the extra living costs of being disabled.
In a bid to ease growing discontent, the government said PIP recipients who will lose the benefit would get a 13-week extension to help ease the transition.
"From the government's own impact assessment, it's going to bring about 250,000 disabled people into poverty and about 50,000 children," Al-Hassan added.
"For me, it's a personal choice because when I look at these proposals I see them through the lens of a father. But I think there are better ways to raise revenue and better ways to intervene with regards to welfare."
He added: "We do need to rebuild it [the system], but we need to put the people in it, and helping them, at the heart of that. The bill misses the mark on that."
A number of the proposed changes have been welcomed by Labour MPs, like extra investment to help get people back into work and an increase in the basic rate of Universal Credit for people actively seeking employment.
But MPs, like Al-Hassan, Bishop and Opher, say there has been a lack of consultation over the plans and an inadequate impact assessment on the consequences on the jobs market and on people's health.
The government is planning to put the welfare reforms in place by November 2026.