Latest news with #backbenchers
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
PM 'agrees' benefit changes deal with Labour rebels
The government is expected to announce a deal shortly with Labour rebels on its planned benefits changes. Multiple sources tell the BBC existing claimants of the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) will continue to receive what they currently get, as will recipients of the health element of Universal Credit. It is also expected that the support to help people into employment will be fast forwarded so it happens concessions amount to a massive climbdown from the government, which was staring at the prospect of defeat if it failed to accommodate the demands of over 100 of its backbenchers. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Sussan Ley pushes for new collaborative policy process in bid to avoid Peter Dutton-style party control
Sussan Ley will ask Coalition MPs to endorse a new policy development process designed to empower backbenchers and include more diverse voices, part of efforts to avoid repeating the political overreach which occurred during Peter Dutton's leadership. At a meeting of the joint Coalition party room in Canberra on Friday, the opposition leader will outline a bottom-up approach for new policy proposals. Details of the plan were circulated to MPs on Thursday night, after a meeting of the shadow ministry at Parliament House. Liberal sources said Ley wanted consultative design work for ideas to be led by shadow ministers and specialist working groups before the 2028 federal election. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The new process will allow backbench policy committees more say in the opposition's pitch to voters, ending idea bottlenecks and taking advantage of MPs' expertise and community connections from outside politics. The scale of the Coalition's loss on 3 May is expected to be discussed at Friday's meeting, before a formal review led by Howard government minister Nick Minchin and former New South Wales state minister Pru Goward. Before the election, some Liberals complained about policy ideas being ignored by Dutton and the opposition leadership team, with backbench committees being asked to rubber stamp ideas immediately before they were announced. Ley has told MPs she wants a more strategic approach, based on expert advice and better external engagement. In a speech to the National Press Club this week, she announced the first working group, which will consider energy and emissions reductions policies. Led by shadow minister Dan Tehan, it will consider Dutton's nuclear power plan amid fierce internal debate about net zero by 2050 policies. 'Our policy development process will be iterative and continuous,' Ley said on Wednesday. 'It will evolve throughout the term in response to internal and external feedback, emerging issues, and ongoing engagement with the community.' Her promise to be a 'zealot' on recruiting more women to Liberal party ranks is being debated internally but frontbencher Angus Taylor on Thursday talked down any move to introduce gender quotas. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'It's not something that I think is necessary in order to get the outcome,' Taylor told Sky News. 'I think attracting, mentoring, retaining great people and great women in the party is incredibly important work for absolutely everybody, for all leaders. And I take that very seriously.' Nationals leader David Littleproud used the opening of the shadow ministry meeting to energise dispirited colleagues. 'You can do one of two things: you can get in the foetal position, give up, or you can come out swinging,' he said. 'Let's come out swinging. Let's hold this government to account, and let's show Australians that we are here for them and we have the solutions for them.' The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, warned the Coalition needed to do more than identify its failures on gender representation. Labor introduced quotas for female representation in the mid-1990s. 'It's actually the next step that matters, which is: what are you going to do about it? 'I think we'll just have to wait and see whether the rhetoric is actually matched by action,' Gallagher said.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Why defeat on unpopular welfare reforms could prove to be the end of Starmer
It normally takes much more than just a year in power for a prime minister to face a full rebellion involving more than 100 MPs. While Sir Keir Starmer has had a very bumpy time at the start of his premiership, despite winning a massive majority, this is the first time he has been staring down the barrel of a defeat in a crucial vote in the Commons. But if all 108 Labour MPs - including 12 chairs of select committees - stick to their guns next week and vote for the reasoned amendment, then the government will lose the second reading vote on its welfare reform bill. It is worth noting that the 108 figure does not include any ministers who may still resign over the issue and vote against the government. Defeat on such an important policy would potentially be a confidence issue for a government that could bring it down, and there are several factors at play here. As one senior backbencher put it: 'The sharks are circling'. There are those who want the government to turn in a much more leftward direction, and instead of cuts, go for welfare taxes. There are others who have leadership ambitions. There are yet more who want Starmer out. And there are many who simply do not think being a Labour MP involves signing up for slashing benefits to the vulnerable and disabled. Whichever way it is, if this goes spectacularly wrong, it may be difficult for the prime minister to survive, and even if he does, he will be significantly weakened. His attendance at the Nato summit in the Hague today, where he has committed the UK to spending 5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defence and national security within a decade, underlines that he needs to bring the welfare budget under control to save money for other things. In the short term, he and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, need the £5bn savings a year to balance the books and avoid borrowing even more. Unlike the winter fuel payments, which he has already U-turned on at a cost of about £1.25bn a year, the benefits cuts are a vital part of his financial and social reforms. It is untenable for it to be blocked. When Sir Keir is facing domestic political problems, there is one thing he is almost guaranteed to do - deploy Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden to face the inevitable heavy questioning of the morning broadcast round. Mr McFadden is the ultimate safe pair of hands, whose superpower is to drain the life out of almost any story, usually with meticulously detailed explanations. So it was no surprise that Mr McFadden was deployed this morning to try to take the heat out of the political crisis as Sir Keir prepares to fly to the Hague. Clearly, he was a better choice than the deeply unpopular Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, who was described by one MP as 'the cabinet's grim reaper' and has failed to persuade colleagues on the need to reform welfare. But McFadden, in many ways, is the wrong person for the job. Like Ms Kendall, he is on the Blairite right of the party, someone known to want to slash welfare and disliked by those who are now preparing an attack on the Starmer project. And in the end, this comes down to who is actually in charge. Too many people think the real Zvengali in this situation is Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, who is being blamed for the welfare cuts agenda. The problem for Starmer and McSweeney is that the terrible polling and rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK are not helping their cause much. If things go really badly next May, after another round of elections, talk of stopping welfare cuts could easily turn into talk of changing leaders. That may force Sir Keir to compromise early before battlelines are properly drawn when the welfare bill has its second reading on Tuesday next week.
The Independent
15-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Starmer warns Labour rebels there will be no more concessions on benefit cuts
Sir Keir Starmer has warned Labour rebels that he will not budge any further on plans to slash disability benefits. With dozens of backbenchers threatening a revolt over plans to cut personal independence payments (PIP) and other benefits, the prime minister is facing his next big test with his own party. Already, there had been rumblings about economic policy during the run-up to the spending review, with a number of MPs supportive of a proposal by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to impose eight new wealth taxes on the super-rich and corporations instead of making cuts. The prime minister has already had to U-turn on cutting winter fuel payments to millions of pensioners at a cost of £1.25bn a year, and he will need to find cash to end the two-child benefit cap after hinting he was in favour of axing it. But with the welfare reform legislation being tabled this week and a vote on it expected before the end of this month, Sir Keir was bullish about standing up to rebels. He said: 'Well, we have got to get the reforms through and I have been clear about that from start to finish. The system is not working; it's not working for those that need support, it's not working for taxpayers. Everybody agrees it needs reform, we have got to reform it, and that is what we intend to do.' Asked about a potential rebellion, he responded: 'The principles remain the same, those who can work should work. Those who need support into work should have that support into work, which I don't think they are getting at the moment. 'Those who are never going to be able to work should be properly supported and protected. And that includes not being reassessed and reassessed. So they are the principles, we need to do reform, and we will be getting on with that reform when the bill comes.' The government has planned to make £5bn in savings from the welfare reforms, but already, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has tried to water down the proposals to stave off backbench anger. But the 'non-negotiable' protections that she is to include in the welfare reform bill are understood to include a guarantee that those who will no longer qualify for PIP under the changed criteria will still receive the payments for 13 weeks. Dr Simon Opher, a GP and the MP for Stroud, has already told the BBC he is 'going to rebel' in a vote and 'a number of colleagues are in the same situation'. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday, Dr Opher said: 'It's a slight delay in the disability cuts – it's 13 weeks rather than four weeks – so it's something, but not very much really. 'And it doesn't change the basic fact that they're … planning to cut disability payments to quite a lot of people, really. 'So not terribly impressed, but it's something at least.'
