Burnham urges MPs to vote down welfare cuts despite Starmer's U-turn

Telegraph

6 hours ago

Andy Burnham has urged MPs to vote against Sir Keir Starmer's welfare cuts on Tuesday despite the reforms being watered down.
The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester said the changes to the benefits system risked creating an 'unfairness and divide' among disabled people.
It comes after Sir Keir caved in to a revolt by more than 120 of his own MPs and agreed that existing disability claimants would be able to keep their benefits.
But tougher eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP) will still apply to new claimants, prompting warnings from rebels of a 'two-tier' welfare state.
Sir Keir's about-turn is also expected to cost the Treasury about £1.5 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Speaking at a panel event at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, Mr Burnham declared he still opposes the revised policy.
He said: 'What's been announced is half a U-turn, a 50 per cent U-turn.
'In my view, I'd hope that MPs vote against the whole Bill when it comes before Parliament.'
Mr Burnham added that it 'simply can't be justified to make disabled people your target', saying the Government should have carried out an impact assessment.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's vote in the Commons, he continued: '[MPs] face the prospect of, 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… Many will face trouble down the line.'
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will set out the concessions the Government has made to its welfare reforms later today.
Ahead of Sir Keir's climbdown last week, Mr Burnham had joined Sir Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, in criticising the Government's crackdown on disability benefits.
In an interview over the weekend, Sir Keir said he had been too 'distracted' by world events to get to grips with the backbench rebellion.
He told The Sunday Times that he was 'heavily focused' on the crisis in the Middle East, which he claimed was 'context rather than an excuse'.
The changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill have appeased a large number of the MPs who had planned to vote the legislation down.
Dame Meg Hillier, the chairman of the Treasury committee, said the concessions were a 'workable compromise' and is expected to withdraw her amendment to kill off the Bill.
However, some Labour backbenchers have insisted they will vote against the legislation regardless of the Prime Minister giving way.
Clive Efford, the Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst, said he was still unconvinced by the proposed cuts.
Unknown poverty impact
Mr Efford told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There's 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.
'So the original motion was asking for more time to understand the impacts of these changes and that still applies to those who will be adversely affected.'
Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, said Mr Burnham was 'right' to continue to take a stand against the cuts.
Jon Trickett, a veteran of the Labour Left, said Sir Keir was heading 'out of the frying pan into the fire' and 'making a total balls up'.
'Two brothers with the same genetic disorder – the older fell ill, is disabled, and receives PiP,' Mr Trickett said.
'The younger will have the same fate. But he won't receive PiP because of the 'concessions'. Two brothers, same disability, treated differently – wrong, wrong, wrong.'
Vicky Foxcroft, who quit the frontbench over the welfare cuts earlier this month, argued on Sunday night that Sir Keir's concessions did not go far enough.
Ms Foxcroft said she was yet to decide how she would vote on Tuesday but called on ministers to provide further reassurance.
'I would hope that actually we start to ensure we listen to disabled people and their organisations right across government,' she told The Guardian.
'This isn't just about warm words, this is about making sure we get policy right… Right now, we're kind of tinkering in terms of things to make it the least worst situation we can.
'And we need to learn lessons from that and make sure that we get these things right going forward.'