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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour MPs signal rebellion over welfare cuts
A number of Labour MPs have said they will vote against the government's proposed cuts to disability benefits. Nine Labour MPs voiced concern over the government's plans to make it harder for people with less severe conditions to claim disability payments during a debate on Wednesday. Calls to rethink the benefits cuts, as well as other policies, have been growing after Labour lost 187 council seats during the local election last week. Disability minister Sir Stephen Timms told the MPs the goal of the reforms was to make sure the welfare system was "financially sustainable in the long term". In March, the government announced a major welfare shake-up aimed at saving money and supporting people who can work to find jobs. Ministers said changes to a key disability benefit called personal independence payment (Pip) and universal credit (UC) would save around £5bn a year by the end of 2030 and get more people into work. Overall, the government spends £65bn a year on health and disability-related benefits. Before the government announced the Pip and UC changes, this was projected to increase to £100bn by 2029. The government estimated that 3.2 million families could be worse off as a result of the reforms, while 3.8 million families will be better off by 2030. The government is expected to pass a new law to make the welfare changes, giving MPs a chance to vote on the plans. Backbench discontent Speaking during the debate in Westminster Hall, Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said the government was "making a conscious choice to balance its books on the backs of people on welfare". Ian Byrne, who represents Liverpool West Derby, said he would "swim through vomit to vote against" proposed welfare changes. Labour MPs Richard Burgon, Rachael Maskell, Andy McDonald, Cat Eccles, Nadia Whittome, Imran Hussain, Steve Witherden and Ian Lavery also said they would vote against the government's proposals. They were joined by John McDonnell, an independent MP for Hayes and Harlington who had the whip removed by Labour for rebelling against the government over the two-child benefit cap. A number of other Labour MPs have also indicated they are minded to oppose the benefits cuts in comments at events, in articles for local papers, as well as on social media. Disability minister Sir Stephen Timms defended the proposals, saying it was not sustainable for welfare spending to rise at the current rate. "The current system produces poor employment outcomes, high economic inactivity, low living standards, high costs to the taxpayer. It needs to change," he said. "We want a more proactive, pro-work system that supports people better and supports the economy as well." Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has come under increasing pressure to change course on some policy decisions. At Prime Minister Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir defended the decision to axe winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. It came after a group of about 45 Labour MPs representing seats in northern England and the Midlands joined those urging the government to rethink the move. The planned changes to disability benefits could become the next big political flashpoint, with legislation likely to be brought to the House of Commons in June. The BBC has been told some potential rebels are being assured they won't lose the party whip if they abstain – or make themselves scarce – when the vote comes. The government is not at risk of defeat, given Labour has a large majority, but a sizable rebellion could show the extent of the discontent within the party. Senior minister Pat McFadden said "we have to win the fight for Britain's future" while speaking at the Parliamentary Labour Party's first gathering since the local elections, party sources said. The Cabinet Office minister criticised Reform UK, including the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who said her party would "reset Britain to its glorious past" in her victory speech. McFadden said: "Labour is always at its best when we look to the future. This is the fight of our lives, this is the generational fight in this new political era. "I want to tell you we have to take on this new fight for the future - and we have to win."
Western Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Health
- Western Telegraph
Starmer faces backbench rebellion over Pip benefit squeeze, Labour MPs indicate
One of the party's MPs Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) said he would 'swim through vomit to vote against' proposed welfare changes. He was joined in criticising the policy by his Labour colleagues Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East), Cat Eccles (Stourbridge), Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East), Imran Hussain (Bradford East) and Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington), who each said they were among the MPs who would vote against the Government's proposals. If the Government's going to recoup costs from somewhere, they should cast their gaze away from some of the most vulnerable in our society and instead look at those with the broadest shoulders Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP In its Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Government has proposed tightening the eligibility requirements for the personal independence payment, known as Pip. A claimant must score a minimum of four points on one Pip daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit. According to the document, 'this means that people who only score the lowest points on each of the Pip daily living activities will lose their entitlement in future'. Speaking in Westminster Hall, Labour's Bell Ribeiro-Addy said: 'My biggest fear overall is that we may ultimately count the cost of these cuts in lost lives. 'Lest we forget that study that attributed 330,000 excess deaths in Britain between 2012 and 2019 to the last round of austerity cuts. 'There's no denying that the number of people who are claiming sickness and disability benefits are rising, but we can't ignore the fact that increasing claimants are linked to an ageing population and a decade of underinvestment in our health services. 'If the Government's going to recoup costs from somewhere, they should cast their gaze away from some of the most vulnerable in our society and instead look at those with the broadest shoulders.' The MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill told MPs that the move will 'not win the Government any favours with the electorate'. Last week, we saw the people's judgment of unpopular, unnecessary and immoral cuts Ian Byrne, Labour MP Quoting former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who sits as the independent MP for Hayes and Harlington, Mr Byrne said: ''I will swim through vomit to vote against' them. 'I cannot express to the minister (Sir Stephen Timms) the scale of the devastation this will have on disabled people in my constituency and indeed the country.' Mr Byrne later continued: 'This is not what the Labour Party was formed to do. 'So I conclude with this appeal to the minister, we were elected last summer on a promise of 'change'. These cruel cuts are not the change people voted for. 'Last week, we saw the people's judgment of unpopular, unnecessary and immoral cuts.' Mother of the House Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington who tabled Wednesday's debate, accused the Government of putting forward 'contradictory arguments'. She said: 'On the one hand, they insist they are helping the disabled by putting them back to work. 'But on the other hand, they say this cut will save £9 billion. In the short run, putting disabled people into jobs will not save money, it will actually cost more Diane Abbott, Labour MP 'Well, you can't do both. 'Putting disabled people into rewarding, sustained employment – which we would all support – means spending money, money on training, therapy, childcare. 'In the short run, putting disabled people into jobs will not save money, it will actually cost more. 'The only certain way that cutting Pip saves the billions of pounds that the Government wants is by making Pip recipients live on less, and this is something ministers claim that they do not want to do.' But David Pinto-Duschinsky, the Labour MP for Hendon, said MPs cannot 'ignore this issue' of health-related benefit claimant figures rising at, on some metrics, 'twice the rate of underlying health conditions'. He suggested a wealth tax is a 'speculative' solution, and said: 'Exactly because the system is so essential, we must also safeguard its future.' Responding to the debate, social security minister Sir Stephen said: 'Claims to Pip are set to more than double, from two million to over 4.3 million this decade, partly accounted for by a 17% increase in disability prevalence, that's been mentioned, but the increase in benefit caseload is much, much higher. 'And it would certainly not be in the interests of people currently claiming the benefits for the Government to bury its head in the sand over that rate of increase. We want a more proactive, pro-work system that supports people better and supports the economy as well Sir Stephen Timms, social security minister 'So following the Green Paper, we're consulting on how best to support those affected by the eligibility changes, we're looking to improve the Pip assessment – as has been mentioned, I'm going to lead a review of that – but the current system produces poor employment outcomes, high economic inactivity, low living standards, high costs to the taxpayer. 'It needs to change. 'We want a more proactive, pro-work system that supports people better and supports the economy as well.'
