Labour MPs demand ‘reset' in relations with Number 10 after welfare U-turn
A late-night climbdown on welfare cuts from Number 10 may have seen off the threat of Sir Keir Starmer's first major Commons defeat, with rebels suggesting they now expect the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill to pass its first hurdle on July 1.
But speaking to the PA news agency, a number of Labour backbenchers expressed deeper frustration with how Downing Street has handled its backbenchers since last year's election.
One warned that discontent and low morale among MPs would 'continue to fester' without a 'wider reset' in relations between Number 10 and the Parliamentary Labour Party after 'a year of poor party management'.
Another accused decision-makers in Government of operating as an 'exclusive club' and showing 'disregard' for both backbenchers and experts outside Westminster.
They told PA: 'I think the Government have got to stop pretending they know everything and start listening, because they might learn something.'
Several backbenchers pointed to the Prime Minister's words at a press conference on Wednesday, in which he referred to keeping a 'focus on the change that we want to bring about' rather than the 'noises off'.
Although Government sources suggested Sir Keir was talking in more general terms, rebels have taken his 'noises off' comment as referring to them.
One said: 'A lot of colleagues are sickened at language being used, from the PM's 'noises off' to the senior source saying they thought Keir and Morgan (McSweeney, the Prime Minister's chief of staff) had cleansed the party of self-indulgent rubbish.'
But their frustration is not shared by all Labour backbenchers, with others suggesting Friday's U-turn on welfare cuts shows Downing Street is willing to listen.
One told PA: 'They're a new team, they're a year in and occasionally teams do need to have a moment where things come to a head and they learn.'
Arguing that some backbenchers needed to 'chill out and have a cup of tea', they added they thought the Prime Minister had 'clocked that it's important that we work as part of a team.
'All of us want him to succeed and all of us want the Government to succeed,' they said.
A Number 10 spokesman insisted on Friday that the Prime Minister 'remains fully committed to engaging with parliamentarians'.
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Daily Mirror
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34 minutes ago
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Diane Abbott, a leading figure from the left of Labour, said the rebellion was 'far from over', while another Labour MP said: 'The bill starts from the premise of cuts, not reform. It's also arse about face in terms of impact assessments and co-production. It's simply a negotiated dog's dinner. In that sense, nothing has really changed except the fact they've negotiated more misguidedly to sign up to it.' One thing Labour MPs are pushing hard for is more clarity on the review of how the Pip system works, due to be done by the autumn by Stephen Timms, a work and pensions minister. Many expect that process to change the points system from what has been proposed so far. Some in the party also want Starmer to reinstate Vicky Foxcroft, who quit as a whip to vote against the bill before the U-turn was made. Stella Creasy, a leading Labour MP who had initially signed the amendment to delay the bill, said she wanted to see more details. 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The majority of disability charities and campaign groups were on Friday still opposed to the cuts. The disability equality charity Scope said that despite concessions, an estimated 430,000 future disabled claimants would be affected by 2029/30. Its strategy director, James Taylor, said: 'It is encouraging that the government is starting to listen to disabled people and MPs who have been campaigning for change for months. But these plans will still rip billions from the welfare system. 'The proposed concessions will create a two-tier benefits system and an unequal future for disabled people. Life costs more if you are disabled. And these cuts will have a devastating effect on disabled people's health, ability to live independently or work.' A coalition, including Disabled People Against Cuts, said: 'Disabled people and disability rights groups totally reject the performative politics being enacted by the government, in response to being challenged by a growing MP rebellion and a tidal wave of anger from the public. 'We will not sell out generations of disabled people past and future by accepting this sham of alleged concessions on welfare spending so that they can save face. The reforms are ill thought out, and MPs still do not have a full understanding of their implications and impact.'
