Watch live as Labour is expected to announce plans to slash billions of pounds from the UK’s benefit bill amid a growing backlash among the party’s backbenchers.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will address the House of Commons laying out the Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for welfare reform to get more people back to work and cut the cost of the benefits bill by as much as £5bn.
Labour backbenchers have met the plans with fierce criticism. Veteran left-winger Diane Abbott described the overhaul as “not a Labour thing to do”.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden defended the plans, saying that the Cabinet is “united” behind the move and that people on long-term sickness benefits should not “languish there forever”.
Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are widely expected, with Labour MPs understood to be divided on the cost-cutting policy package. The payment is designed to help people with extra costs incurred by their disability, whether they are working or not.
