With more than 120 Labour MPs backing a rebellious amendment and tensions mounting over controversial welfare reforms, Sir Keir Starmer is facing one of the biggest challenges to his leadership since taking office.
The prime minister’s plan to restrict access to disability benefits and overhaul sickness-related support has triggered a furious backlash from within his own party, forcing him into emergency talks to avoid a humiliating Commons defeat.
The rebellion, focused on concerns that the reforms could deepen poverty and undermine Labour’s core values, comes despite warnings from party leadership that dissenters could face deselection.
While Starmer has insisted reform is essential to fix a “broken system” and deliver “Labour values of fairness,” critics argue that the proposed cuts mark a worrying departure from those very values.
Behind the scenes, dissatisfaction with his top team – particularly chief of staff Morgan McSweeney – is also growing, with some MPs calling for a “regime change” in Downing Street.
The leadership is hoping to buy time and make concessions before next week’s crucial vote, but the damage may already be done.
In a poll of Independent readers, 49 per cent said they felt that the reforms unfairly targeted vulnerable people. They warned that the cuts will “break people,” leave carers “destitute,” and impose a human cost many feel is being ignored.
On the other side of the debate, 28 per cent said they agreed with Starmer’s reforms, while an additional 23 per cent expressed general support for welfare reform, though not for the proposals currently on the table.
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