Parliamentary schedule for Thursday June 26
All timings approximate and subject to business.
House of Commons:
0930 Transport questions
1030 Business questions to Commons Leader Lucy Powell
1130 Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) (No. 2) Bill: second and third reading
General debate on armed forces day
An adjournment debate on potential merits of floating solar panels
Westminster Hall:
1330 Select committee statement from Joint Committee on human rights
1350 IVF egg donation in young women
1510 Funding of the BBC World Service
House of Lords:
1100 Oral questions
1150 Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – committee stage (day one)
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Western Telegraph
34 minutes ago
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Police's disposal of miners' strike documents ‘deeply worrying'
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Western Telegraph
34 minutes ago
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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer seeks to win round welfare rebels with promise of ‘fairness'
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces the most serious revolt of his premiership (Ben Stansall/PA) The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126 out of a total of 162 backers from all parties. 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. 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.' 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Most of the 800,000 losers will receive £3,850 per year less in Pip. The 2.2 million existing claimants of the health element of universal credit who are expected to still be claiming in 2029–30 are estimated to see a £450 real decline in their support in that year because of the freezing of the payment. There are also set to be 700,000 new claimants who will typically receive £2,700 a year less than they would have done under the current system, the IFS said. NEW: Government's benefit reforms could reduce annual spending by around £11 billion in the long run – but still leave health-related benefit bill far above pre-pandemic levels. Read @TomWatersEcon, @LatimerEduin and @matthewoulton's new report: — Institute for Fiscal Studies (@TheIFS) June 26, 2025 It will be well into the 2030s before the reforms are fully rolled out and, in the long-term, the savings could amount to around £11 billion a year, the IFS said. A little over a quarter of the public are supportive of the proposed reforms, according to polling published on Thursday. Of 2,004 people surveyed by More in Common over the weekend, just 27% said they supported the planned changes to the benefits system and half (51%) said they believe the cuts would worsen the health of disabled people. A similar proportion (52%) said the cuts would increase pressure on the NHS while six in 10 said the Government should look at alternative cost-saving measures instead. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the Government should pull the Bill and 'go back to the drawing board' instead of 'cutting vital support from thousands of vulnerable people'.
