Latest news with #NeilDuncanJordan
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Reeves faces welfare revolt after Labour rebels rejected an 'olive branch' designed to head off a Commons mutiny over benefit cuts
was on collision course with Labour welfare rebels last night after they rejected an 'olive branch' designed to head off a Commons mutiny over benefit cuts. The Chancellor is facing a ferocious backlash from her own MPs over plans to trim £5 billion from the benefits bill. More than 100 Labour MPs have warned party whips they could vote against the plan to restrict eligibility to disability benefits. Ministers are trying to contain the rebellion by suggesting possible concessions. Under one proposal, those affected would continue to receive their benefits for a further 13 weeks to give them more time to find a job. The compromise is set to be included when the legislation needed to push through the cuts is published next week. But leading rebels dismissed the idea. Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan said the proposal was 'not a concession' as it was already included in a government consultation on the cuts. Mr Duncan-Jordan, a long-time anti-poverty campaigner, said the cuts would 'make disabled poorer'. He added: 'No amount of warm words mask the reality - cuts don't create jobs they create austerity. I'm voting No.' Fellow rebel Rachel Maskell said: 'I'll have to vote against something which will cause such harm to my constituents - too many lives will be put at risk if they press ahead.' Ms Reeves used the £5 billion package of benefit cuts to help balance the books when she gave her spring statement on the economy in March. Without them she would have been at risk of breaking her own fiscal rules set just five months earlier. Economists say the cuts will hit 1.2 million people, with those affected losing an average of around £4,500 per year each. The government's own impact assessment suggested the changes would drive 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children. But Ms Reeves signalled she will not back down further, despite her recent U-turn on cuts to the winter fuel allowance. Ruling out a climb down, she said reform was needed to prevent the welfare system becoming unsustainable. 'It is important we reform the way the welfare state works so there is a welfare state there for people,' she said. 'We are the only developed country where the number of people in the labour market is lower than it was before Covid. The number of economically inactive people of working age is rising.' The Chancellor said sickness benefits are forecast to rise sharply despite the cuts, with official estimates suggesting they will reach almost £100 billion a year by the end of the decade.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jittery Labour MPs divided over benefits cuts
This week, Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers redoubled their efforts to win over Labour MPs minded to join what could be the biggest rebellion yet against his of Labour MPs have raised concerns about benefits cuts worth £5bn a year by 2030 and their potential impact on disabled reforms to disability benefits have divided the party and left many pondering: what is Labour for, exactly?A "Labour cause" is how Sir Keir described the package of welfare reforms, at a meeting of his MPs on month, those MPs will have to decide whether that's a cause worth getting behind, when the benefits changes are voted on in Parliament for the first ministers come under pressure to water down their welfare plans, Labour MPs with different perspectives told the BBC where they stand. Conflicting values For critics, the prospect of a Labour government taking away social security payments from some sick and disabled people is at best unpalatable and at worst wasn't that long ago that one of the party's main focuses was opposing what it saw as the austerity spending cuts of the Conservative government, when the now-exiled Jeremy Corbyn was Labour Corbyn's leadership is long gone, that strain of thought lives on in the party - and it's in evidence among Labour MPs elected for the first time last Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, is one of those and about 40 other Labour MPs signed a letter warning the welfare changes were "impossible to support" without a "change of direction"."No Labour MP comes into Parliament to make poor people poorer," he concerns him most are proposals to make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim personal independence payment (Pip).The welfare package as a whole could push an extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty, according to the government's impact ministers have stressed the figures do not factor in the government's plans to spend £1bn on helping the long-term sick and disabled back into work, or its efforts to reduce poverty."What I think everyone accepts is that assisting people back to work who can work is a positive thing," Duncan-Jordan said. "But saying that you go to work or we cut your benefit, is not the way to do it and I don't think it's a Labour way either."And yet the "Labour way" is open to interpretation. For Alex Ballinger, who was elected as Labour MP for Halesowen last year, his party is about "increasing opportunities for the most vulnerable people in society"."We're about improving life outcomes and being ambitious for those people who maybe need a bit more encouragement," he said. "I think all those are things that could chime with Labour values."He said the most important aspect of the welfare reforms was the support for disabled people who want to work. It includes giving disabled people the right to try work without the risk of losing their welfare hope these efforts will boost employment among benefits recipients, at a time when 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long-term nothing changes, the health and disability benefits bill is forecast to reach £70bn a year by the end of the decade, a level of spending the government says is "unsustainable"."The country shouldn't be in a situation where we're paying that much at the same time as having millions of young people out of education and training," Ballinger said. "I think these reforms are a good balance." Although their party is split on welfare, some MPs have something in and Duncan-Jordan are two of 194 Labour MPs who have majorities smaller than the number of Pip claimants in their welfare changes will not affect everyone on Pip and the number of recipients in each constituency could change by the next general disability campaigners have picked up on this and are writing to these MPs urging them to vote against the government's welfare vote is due in June, when the government will try to pass a new law to make changes to welfare payments. Holding firm Given Labour's large majority, the bill is expected to so, there is widespread unease among Labour MPs, with some signing a letter to the chief whip to suggest they would not support the bill in its current disgruntled Labour MPs have said as much in interviews, including Clive Lewis, who railed against the cuts to Pip."We do not cut from the poorest and most vulnerable," he told the BBC. "It's obscene and a Labour government should be tackling that, and punching up, before it punches down."Another Labour MP, Stella Creasy, said it would be "remiss" of the government to ignore the concerns of her colleagues.A government source said ministers had been engaging with MPs in one-to-one meetings and listening to their feedback in recent MPs hope the government can be persuaded to change course, as it did this week, with its U-turn on the controversial decision to cut winter fuel payments for millions of despite sustained backbench pressure, Sir Keir's government has held firm so was demonstrated this week in a speech by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, who said there was a risk the welfare state "won't be there for people who really need it in future" without interpretation of the Labour response to this problem was a notable theme."There is nothing Labour about accepting the cost of this economic but, above all, social crisis, paid for in people's life chances and living standards," she MPs walk through the voting lobbies next month, their version of Labour's values on welfare will be revealed.
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Liz Kendall to overhaul DWP's assessment for disability benefits
Liz Kendall is to begin an overhaul of the disability benefit assessment process long decried by campaigners as cruel, calling on groups to engage with the changes amid criticism of the government's forthcoming welfare cuts. The work and pensions secretary said on Monday she was beginning the process of abolishing the work capability assessment and overhauling the process to apply for the personal independence payment (Pip) – which can be paid to those in or out of work – to form a single assessment process. Kendall said the changes would involve significant consultation with disabled people. Several MPs have been highly critical of the government's decision not to consult on drastic changes to eligibility for Pip and the top-ups to universal credit for those who cannot work because of disability. Her announcement comes days after 42 Labour MPs signed a letter to the Guardian calling for a pause on the welfare changes, which campaigners have warned will push thousands of people into poverty. The MPs said they could not support the green paper in its current form. Several MPs told Kendall in the Commons last week they remained deeply concerned about the impact of the cuts on constituents. The government has said the changes are necessary to address the rising welfare bill and sharp increase in Pip awards – and to encourage more unemployed disabled people to try to get back into work. Neil Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, who organised the letter, said helping people into work would 'require investment in employment support programmes, incentives for employers to recruit them and enforcement of anti-discrimination rules'. 'Isn't it appropriate the members are only asked to vote on any changes to the benefits system after all the information about the impact of these proposals has been provided?' Polly Billington, the MP for East Thanet, who did not sign the letter, criticised a proposed benefits change to delay access to the health element of universal credit to age 22. She asked: 'Can she explain to me how denying access to the heath-related element of universal credit will help these young people into work?' Imran Hussain, Bradford East MP, said to Kendall: 'Please listen to the growing calls, in this place [parliament] and out there, to scrap these unfair cuts and instead do the right thing by taxing the super-rich so they can pay their fair share.' Kendall said she hoped MPs would take heart from the changes to the assessment process that would come from the review beginning this week. 'I know how anxious many people are when there's talk about reform, but this government wants to ensure Pip is fair for people who need it now and into the future,' she said. 'In our green paper we promised to review the Pip assessment, working with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts. And I can tell the house we are starting the first phase of that review today.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Kendall said she would invite disability campaigners and disabled people to be involved in the implementation of many of the changes. 'We are consulting with disabled people and the organisations that represent them about what support can be available for anyone who loses out. 'We will be consulting with disabled people about how to build our £1bn-a-year employment support programme, and we will make sure that those who can never work will be protected, including by making sure that they do not have to go through reassessment repeatedly, which has been the situation so far.' In the green paper published in March, the Department for Work and Pensions said experiences of the assessment were 'not always positive' and that reporting of mental health or neurodiverse conditions was increasing more rapidly and more markedly among younger adults – another reason it gave for reviewing the assessment.
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MP calls on BCP Council to organise VE Day event in Poole
An MP has said he's "horrified" that a council is not funding a VE Day event in one of its three Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council says it is staging a beacon lighting in Bournemouth commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Town Council is funding its own event at The Poole MP Neil Duncan Jordan says veterans want to see an event in Poole because of its history and role in D-Day. "Poole people are concerned that the P in BCP keeps getting forgotten," he said."The fact that reports are coming out that the council is not going to mark VE Day in Poole, but they're going to mark it in Bournemouth and Christchurch."That's caused a lot of anger amongst local residents, and the council really need to listen very hard to that, and put things right." BCP Council said it has never funded VE Day events as they have been hosted by the Charter of Trustees for each of the three Andy Martin, cabinet member for culture, communications and customers said: "We are proud of Poole's history and involvement at Dunkirk during World War Two and of the town's historical naval connections."To mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day this year, we are organising a Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole wide beacon lighting ceremony which will take place on the forecourt of the BCP Civic Centre for all residents across our area. "This is the first time BCP Council will be organising an event like this to mark VE day."We are working to enable and support community hosted events and have received 30 applications for VE Day Street parties across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Duncan-Jordan told the BBC: "The fact is, the council know that this needs to be organised, it's already happening in Bournemouth and Christchurch, let's make sure that it happens in Poole as well."There's a few weeks before the actual date, and there's plenty of time for BCP Council to pull their finger out and get something done."It's what local people want I think, it's what veterans want and it's only appropriate that Poole marks VE Day given its historic link to World War Two. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
