Sir Keir Starmer is braced for the biggest rebellion of his time as Labour leader as furious backbench MPs rail against his benefit cuts.
The prime minister came under fresh pressure on Tuesday, just hours before parliament votes on his welfare reforms, as two rebel MPs took to the airwaves to condemn the controversial bill.
South Shields MP Emma Lewell highlighted a government impact assessment warning that 150,000 people would be driven into poverty by the changes, adding: “I could never walk through the voting lobby to plunge 150,000 people into poverty.”
And housing committee chairman Florence Eshalomi told the BBC: “Is this how we should really be making legislation? Rushed policy is bad policy.”
She refused to say whether she will vote against the government’s bill, but her comments were the latest indication that Sir Keir’s £2.5bn U-turn has failed to stave off a mass rebellion over the scaled back package of cuts.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall faced a Commons grilling from Labour MPs on Monday over the reforms, which restrict eligibility for PIP, the main disability payment in England. Ms Kendall admitted that the benefit cuts would only save taxpayers £2.5bn – not £4.8bn as previously stated – posing new questions over how chancellor Rachel Reeves will balance the books.
And, despite vowing to protect existing claimants, a wave of backbenchers stood to criticise the proposals, with one of the key rebels in forcing the government’s initial concessions, Debbie Abrahams, saying the plans were “not quite there yet”.
Marie Tidball, a disabled Labour MP, also furiously attacked the government for a lack of engagement with disability groups.
And MPs rounded on one of the government’s concessions, a review into PIP led by work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms, demanding that the bill be delayed until after the Timms review was completed.
Ms Kendall admitted there had been “real concerns” about the government’s welfare reforms, adding: “We have listened carefully, and we are making positive changes as a result.”
But she said there is “no route based on equality or social justice based on welfare spending alone”.
Her refusal to offer further concessions sets the stage for a major rebellion on Tuesday night, with 39 Labour MPs having signed an amendment attempting to kill the bill altogether, and many more potentially voting against it or abstaining.
Defending the plans on Tuesday, Jonathan Reynolds said the government is: “in a stronger position than last week, because the proposals are better”.
The business secretary said the plans are “future-facing” and reform of the welfare system is “urgent”. And he told Sky News: “The process on this, talking to colleagues, listening to them – that has improved the set of proposals, there’s no doubt about that, and as a parliamentarian I think that is the right way to proceed.
“But again you talk to anyone who has perhaps signed that amendment, I’m aware of no one who is saying ‘this is a great system, it works really well at the minute.
“That’s what we’ve got to bear in mind. We’re all trying to find a way to protect the most vulnerable people, get people back into work if they need it… this has long been Labour Party policy, to try and reform this system.”
Mr Reynolds refused to say what would happen to those who defy Sir Keir, who previously suspended seven MPs for rebelling over his King’s Speech, but some have been threatened with having the whip suspended, being blacklisted for government jobs or even facing de-selection.
