Latest news with #LabourRebels
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'People are not more important than the team': Minister backs Labour rebels' suspension
The suspension of four Labour rebels sends the "right signal" that if MPs stray too far outside they are "undermining the team" and that cannot be allowed, a senior minister told Sky News. Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told there are "ways of going about" concerns MPs may have with policies - and there are "ways of not going about that". Politics latest: Earlier this week Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell were suspended from Labour after voting against the government's welfare reforms. They will now sit as independent MPs. Some as "appalling" and a "terrible look", but Mr Reed strongly supported the move. The environment secretary said he understands they were suspended "not for any one particular issue, there was a pattern of behaviour". "I think it is fair that if you're part of a team, you should be required to play the team game," he said. "You can make your views known, but if you go too far outside, you're actually undermining the whole team. We can't allow that." He added: "If people think they're more important than the team, they need to think again." Read more:Labour will eliminate sewage spillages in a decadePM to address postcode lottery for only drug available for extreme pregnancy sickness Veteran Labour MP this week, pending an investigation, after defending previous comments where she said people of colour have a different experience of racism than white people, such as Jewish, Irish and travellers. It is the second time she has been suspended over the same issue, after she said the same thing last year ahead of the election, but was readmitted after apologising. Mr Reed said he is "very disappointed" in Ms Abbott but her suspension is "out of my hands". "I respect Diane, I've known Diane for many, many decades. I think it's a shame she did what she did," he added. Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: "It's obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept." The clip of the interview was re-posted by Mr Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: "Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life."
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer's benefits Bill turns to farce
Sir Keir Starmer has rendered his flagship welfare cuts legislation 'pointless' in a farcical climbdown to win the support of Labour rebels. A planned crackdown on the personal independence payment (Pip), which helps disabled people with extra costs, was dropped just 90 minutes before the crunch vote. The late concession came when it appeared dozens of rebels were still willing to vote down the package, even though it had already been gutted last week to appease critics. Even with the change, 49 Labour MPs voted against the Bill – the biggest rebellion of the Starmer premiership, which marks its one-year anniversary this week. Government ministers faced ridicule from Labour critics, who dubbed the handling of the changes 'shambolic', 'unedifying' and a 'total clusterf--- of Godzilla proportions'. The U-turn means that almost all of the £4.6 billion of annual savings the Bill was meant to deliver have been lost, increasing the chance of new tax rises this autumn. Labour Left-wingers are expected to seize on Sir Keir's weakness and push for further policy changes, such as a new raid on wealth or relaxed rules on immigration. The mishandling of the welfare package, despite a working majority in the House of Commons of 165, is also likely to fuel Labour calls for an overhaul in Number 10. The Prime Minister threw his support behind Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff blamed by some welfare rebels, in Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: 'This is an utter capitulation. Labour's welfare Bill is now a total waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does not control spending. 'It's pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern.' Mel Stride, the Tory shadow chancellor, said 'This farcical climbdown is the most humiliating moment of Labour's first year in office.' He added: 'This isn't serious government, it's chaos. Labour has bottled welfare reform, left a multi-billion-pound hole in the nation's finances, and set the country on course for higher taxes or a debt spiral. It doesn't have to be this way.' The total disability and incapacity benefits bill is set to continue rising, from £76 billion last year to £98 billion by the end of the decade, piling pressure on the public finances. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, faces a black hole that some estimates suggest could run to tens of billions of pounds, meaning she risks being forced into a new tax raid in her autumn Budget. Helen Miller, the deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the changes would not save any money by 2029-30. She said: 'This is a Government with a majority of 165 that is seemingly unable to reform either pensioner winter fuel payments or working-age disability benefits. That doesn't bode well for those hoping this Government will grasp the nettle and address the deeper, structural challenges facing the UK public finances.' Labour rebels, some of whom are emboldened by forcing billion-pound changes on the Starmer administration, told The Telegraph they will push for new wealth taxes this autumn. One Labour rebel told The Telegraph: 'I'd say the new review will last longer than the PM. His sell-by date just got a lot closer after this week.' Andy McDonald, a Labour MP who voted against the welfare plan, said of wealth taxes: 'It is the broadest shoulders argument. 'Distributed to each according to his need.' That's not Marx, it's the Bible.' A second Labour rebel told The Telegraph: 'I think it is inevitable. I don't think the Chancellor has got any options left.' Sir Keir had been facing a huge rebellion last week when 127 Labour MPs – around one in four – signed an amendment to effectively block the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. In an attempt to quash the revolt last week, Mr McSweeney, Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Sir Alan Campbell, the Chief Whip, personally negotiated a compromise that meant all current recipients of disability benefits would not be affected by the changes. Instead, the new system would kick in from November 2026. A review of the most contentious part – toughening the eligibility for Pip – would also return that autumn. But on Tuesday afternoon, ministers were forced to make yet another alteration, removing the entire section of the Bill referring to changes to Pip. The sudden extra concession, which removed the most important part of the legislation just before the key vote, suggested government whips were not confident the legislation would pass. It eventually did by 335 votes in favour and 260 votes against - a much tighter result than expected given how drastically it had been watered down. As well as the 49 Labour MPs who voted against the Bill, 19 abstained. The concession was announced by Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, during the Commons debate just 90 minutes before votes were due to be called. It came just hours after Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, had insisted there would be no further changes. Ms Kendall, who told broadcasters there were 'lessons to learn' after the result, was the driving force behind the Bill and is likely to face questions over her position. Labour rebels were left infuriated that the Government was continuing to force through a Bill which had lost the vast majority of its major elements, rather than pulling the legislation entirely. Paula Barker, the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree: 'Whilst grateful for the concessions, this has further laid bare the incoherent and shambolic nature of this process. It is the most unedifying spectacle that I have ever seen.' Ian Lavery, the Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, urged the Government to withdraw the 'hodgepodge of a Bill which means nothing to nobody'. Ms Lavery said: 'This is crazy, man. This is outrageous, man. This Bill isn't fit for purpose.' 'I went out for a banana – and the whole thing changed' Mary Kelly Foy, the Labour MP for the City of Durham, expressed shock at what had happened after she returned to the Commons after leaving for a snack. Ms Foy said: 'I popped out for a banana earlier on and, when I came back in, things had changed again. So I'm even more unclear on what I'm voting on.' The Tories were also critical of how the legislation had been handled. Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP for North Dorset: 'I have never seen a Bill butchered and filleted by their own sponsoring ministers in such a cack-handed way. 'Nobody can understand the purpose of this Bill now. In the interest of fairness, simplicity and natural justice, is it not best to withdraw it, redraft it and start again?' Around 800,000 claimants of Pip had been expected to lose money under the original cuts package, including 370,000 current recipients. The changes have now been shelved. It means the Government is still expected to spend £28.5 billion on Pip by the end of the decade. Already 3.8 million people get the payments, according to official figures. Sir Stephen will continue with his review, announced last week as part of the initial concessions deal, into Pip eligibility and report back in Autumn 2026. But government sources were unable to say if any of the original changes would be kept. That includes the most contentious element, which was to increase the number of points someone must get in an assessment for the payments. The legislation still contains the halving of the health top-up in Universal Credit for new claimants and the scrapping of the work capability assessment, as well as an increase in the amount of standard Universal Credit.
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour's ‘clusterf--- of Godzilla proportions' ... so whose head will roll?
The benefits reforms passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday are a pale imitation of the package first announced by the Government in March. Two significant concessions to rebels by Sir Keir Starmer have shaved billions off the savings the Bill was estimated to make from tightening up benefit rules. The claimants his Work and Pensions Secretary once said were 'taking the Mickey' out of the system will not see any change to their entitlement, and new claimants will be accepted under the existing rules until at least autumn 2026. The revolt of dozens of Labour MPs has left Sir Keir with an angry party, far fewer reforms than he hoped, and a black hole in the public finances worth billions of pounds. 'It makes the entire thing a total clusterf--- of Godzilla proportions,' said one MP on Tuesday night. 'Only the Gods know how this cobbled-together Bill does anything it's supposed to anymore.' A morose minister added: 'Today is not a good day.' Downing Street is expected to make some changes to its operation as a result of the carnage. Labour rebels are divided on who is responsible for the debacle. But the list of those in the dock is lengthy. Sir Keir Starmer Some Labour MPs say the Prime Minister himself is responsible for the failure to keep his party in line. They argue that it has been clear since March, when the plans were first announced by Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, that they were never going to fly with the Labour backbenchers. Sir Keir has been accused of failing to keep in touch with his MPs, refusing to attend the Commons for votes, and trying to railroad his party into backing reforms without first earning their loyalty. 'Talking to colleagues and backbenchers, he has been very absent,' one minister said. 'This has been a problem all along.' There are few in the party who would call for Sir Keir to stand down – even privately – but there is a sense among MPs that he must take overall responsibility for mismanaging one of the most important policies of his administration so far. He worsened the situation at the weekend, when he told The Sunday Times that the rebellion had only been allowed to grow because he was too concentrated on what was happening in the Middle East. 'There's a lot of resentment in the party towards Keir,' one Labour MP admitted. Rachel Reeves The self-described 'Iron Chancellor' is also receiving a lot of flak from Labour insiders as the politician who most resisted making changes to the welfare reforms. When the original 'wrecking' amendment emerged early last week, insiders say it was Ms Reeves who urged No10 to hold off on making any concessions. But that strategy only enraged MPs more, blowing the rebellion up into a crisis and triggering talk of an existential challenge for Sir Keir. In the end, she was visiting a JCB factory when the decision was made to concede and let existing benefit claimants keep their entitlement. The fact she was not in the room when a fresh hole was blown in her Budget does not bode well for the Chancellor. Ms Reeves is now in an unenviable position. She will have to increase taxes significantly later in the year to account for a total shortfall of about £40bn – including about £3bn created by these about-turns on welfare policy. That will only make her more unpopular with the public, and there are now few Labour MPs who would go out and defend her. Liz Kendall The Work and Pensions Secretary was not a popular figure among the Labour faithful before taking office last July, having finished fourth in her run for the party leadership in 2015. She is viewed as a Blairite, and while her politics matches the more Right-leaning instincts of Sir Keir and his advisers, she has not broken into the clique of senior ministers who receive greater access to the Prime Minister, insiders say. Since the beginning of the year, Ms Kendall has been given the 'hospital pass' of implementing Labour's welfare reforms – a much-needed brake on the relentless increase of Britain's social security budget. Back in March, the proposals leaked to the media before they could be properly 'pitch-rolled' by Downing Street, stoking an almighty row with Left-wing backbenchers. MPs then claimed the Bill was rushed and poorly drafted, allowing senior Labour figures including Dame Meg Hillier, the chairman of the Treasury select committee, to rip them apart. There was a curious sense of history repeating itself on Tuesday, as Labour old-timers remembered the biggest rebellion of Sir Tony Blair's first premiership, when 47 MPs voted against changes to lone parent benefit. His social security secretary was Baroness Harman, who had employed Ms Kendall as a special adviser to manage her relationship with MPs and the press. Morgan McSweeney The Irish svengali at the heart of the Downing Street operation was blamed, as usual, when something went seriously wrong with one of Sir Keir's flagship policies. Mr McSweeney is widely regarded as a campaigning genius, but his critics say he would be better deployed in a more political role at Labour headquarters, than running the nexus of government as Downing Street chief of staff. On Tuesday morning, Sir Keir was forced to tell the Cabinet to stop briefing against his closest adviser, after negative stories about McSweeney reached a fever pitch at the weekend. 'We will not resile from our record of achievement and we will not turn on our staff – including our chief of staff – without whom none of us would be sitting around this cabinet table,' he told ministers, according to The Times. Speaking to The Telegraph, one minister said Mr McSweeney was responsible for the 'woeful' management of MPs and had 'been in a bunker with his head down'. Many MPs say they don't know Mr McSweeney, but think of him as a sinister and arrogant figure, controlling the Government from the inside. His supporters say he attracts criticism and media coverage simply because he is better known than his colleagues. Claire Reynolds On paper, it is easiest to blame Claire Reynolds for the disastrous 'political management' of the backbenchers in the lead-up to Tuesday's vote. The little-known Downing Street appointee is responsible for liaising between Labour MPs and the Government, suggesting ways for the Cabinet to engage with the party and, in short, keeping everyone happy. But the failure to persuade MPs that they should remain loyal to No10 was the most significant issue for Sir Keir in passing his reforms, which now lie in tatters. 'They now have a smoking ruin of a Bill that they've had to shred to head off a rebellion,' one Labour MP said. 'How did a 100-plus majority come to this?' Some MPs say they have never met or spoken to Ms Reynolds, a former Labour official (and wife of Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary) who is in charge with assuaging their concerns. One Labour rebel said that simply being invited into Downing Street occasionally might have made them less likely to vote against the Government – which she could have organised.
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Keir Starmer forced by his own MPs into embarrassing climbdown on disability cuts
UK prime minister Keir Starmer 's Labour government was forced to capitulate to its own backbench rebels on Tuesday evening, by offering further last-minute concessions to stave off a damaging defeat in a vote due on cuts to disability benefits. With barely an hour to go before what was set to be a knife-edge vote in the House of Commons, Stephen Timms, Britain's welfare minister, announced that the government was prepared to give in on a key demand made by rebels. He told the Commons the government would delay implementation of new, tightened eligibility criteria for claimants of personal independence payments (Pip), top-up cash payments paid to disabled people to cover costs associated with their disabilities. The new criteria will now be delayed until a review of Pip that he leading is published. READ MORE Following the concession to rebels, the government's Bill passed the vote by 335 votes to 260. Meanwhile, House of Commons voting records show about 42 Labour MPs still chose to back a rebel amendment, which did not pass. The Labour rebels had been angry that their party was seeking cuts to disability benefits. Many also complained that Downing Street wasn't listening to their concerns. One rebel who had spoken to The Irish Times about the direction of the administration said they just wanted their party to 'govern like a Labour government'. Several rebels on Tuesday argued with their own front bench all afternoon in the Commons chamber that it made no sense to tighten Pip criteria until Mr Timms's review was complete. 'We have heard those concerns,' said Mr Timms as he announced the government was effectively backing down. Coming on top of earlier concessions to rebels that exempted existing Pip claimants from any reforms designed to save cash, the Labour rebels have now effectively gutted the landmark welfare reform Bill that Mr Starmer's government had put forward. The Bill as originally proposed was supposed to save £5 billion for the UK's straitened Treasury. Now that it has been pulled apart by the rebellion, the UK's chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will have to try to find most of those savings elsewhere. As well as giving the chancellor a fiscal headache, the rebels have also seriously dented the prime minister's authority as he approaches his first anniversary in the job. Mr Starmer's U-turn on Pip may have saved him from an embarrassing defeat in a parliament where he is supposed to wield a 165-seat working majority. But it was also just the latest in a string of domestic U-turns that have sparked disquiet among Labour MPs over his leadership. Earlier in the Commons, in advance of the vote that was due soon after 7pm, MPs held an emotionally charged debate over the proposed welfare cuts, with Labour MPs effectively providing both a government position and their own opposition. The drama had started for the government last week when it belatedly realised that enough rebel MPs – the total at one stage stood near 130 – were prepared to back a so-called 'wrecking amendment'. It would have killed the original Bill and seriously undermined Mr Starmer's ability to govern. After negotiations between rebels and emissaries for Mr Starmer's Downing Street operation, the concession was given exempting existing Pip claimants, and it was expected the government would win the vote. It became clear on Monday and Tuesday, however, that there was still huge concern among Labour MPs over the timing eligibility changes. Marie Tidball, one of the few visibly physically disabled MPs in the Commons, broke down in tears as she said she would go against her own government 'with a heavy and broken heart' because it wasn't protecting disabled people. Meg Hillier, a Labour MP who led the original rebellion, said she would back the government but warned Downing Street that backbench MPs were not 'message replicators' or 'voting fodder'.
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Keir Starmer facing Labour rebellion on Tuesday despite caving in on disability benefit cuts
Keir Starmer 's Labour government could yet face a big rebellion by backbench MPs on Tuesday over disability benefit cuts, despite a U-turn to stave off what would have been certain defeat. The prime minister's Downing Street team believed on Monday it had conceded enough to win a crucial vote on proposed cuts to personal independence payments (Pip), top-up benefits paid to disabled people. Many Labour rebels, however, indicated they could still oppose the plans in a House of Commons vote due late on Tuesday. They accused Downing Street of 'rowing back' on concessions agreed last week. Mr Starmer must now wait to see if he has done enough to nudge the proposed cuts over their first parliamentary hurdle. As many as 50 Labour MPs may still rebel, which would allow it to squeak through. If his Bill falls, however, grumbling over the direction of the government will grow. READ MORE The proposed cuts to restrict eligibility for Pip, part of a package originally designed to save £5 billion (€5.8 billion) from the UK's welfare bill, sparked easily the biggest domestic crisis of Mr Starmer's premiership and have eroded his authority. Downing Street had argued the cost of benefits was unsustainable and suggested it was 'immoral' to keep some disabled people 'trapped' on them instead of in work. Despite a working majority of more than 165 over the opposition, the plans came awry when at least 120 Labour rebels threatened to switch sides and inflict defeat on the government with a so-called 'wrecking amendment' to kill off the proposals. Even the government's impact assessment of its original proposals estimated it would push 250,000 people into relative poverty. Rebels complained that the government ignored their concerns about this for weeks. Many blamed Mr Starmer's Cork-born chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, for focusing too much on harsh benefits policies to appease right-leaning Reform UK supporters. Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves, whose strict self-imposed fiscal rules have boxed in Labour on spending, also became a lightning rod for criticism. When it became obvious last week that the rebels had the numbers to kill off the proposals, Downing Street backed down and offered £2.5 billion worth of concessions to appease the so-called 'soft left' faction at the heart of the Labour backbench mutiny. The declared group of rebel MPs included 13 committee chairs, such as Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the powerful House of Commons treasury committee; she tabled the original wrecking amendment. Other prominent rebels included Debbie Abrahams, chairwoman of the work and pensions committee, who negotiated the concessions last week. Another Labour MP, Vicky Foxcroft, quit as a government whip to join the rebellion. All three were prominent among Labour MPs who continued to challenge the government on Monday afternoon, when work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall addressed the Commons to outline a series of concessions designed to win the vote. 'We have listened carefully [to backbenchers] and we are making positive changes,' said Ms Kendall. She confirmed the changes to Pip eligibility would not apply to existing claimants, a concession agreed last week. She also confirmed, however, plans to press ahead with new Pip assessment criteria next year, without waiting for the results of a review due around the same time. Ms Abrahams, a key rebel negotiator, had earlier told ITV this was not what had been agreed. Outside of the parliamentary party, other senior Labour figures such as London mayor Sadiq Khan and Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the concessions had not gone far enough. It was only a '50 per cent U-turn', said Mr Burnham, as he urged his MP colleagues to vote down the government's proposals.
