PM Defends "Good Package" Of Welfare Cuts In Face Of Backbench Rebellion
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has staunchly defended the plans to slash disability benefits. (Alamy)
3 min read
Number 10 has said it is committed to delivering its controversial welfare bill despite a large backbench rebellion which could prevent the legislation passing in Parliament.
The vote, scheduled to happen on Tuesday next week, would reform Personal Independence Payments (PIP) — designed to help disabled people with extra living costs associated with their disability, regardless of whether they are in work — and Universal Credit.
The reforms, which include removing eligibility for PIP from hundreds of thousands of disabled people, are set to push 250,000 people into poverty — including 50,000 children — according to the government's own analysis.
The government has insisted the reforms, expected to save around £5bn, are necessary as the current level of welfare is unsustainable, with Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall arguing the reforms will create a "better future".
However, stakeholders, some of whom complain they have not been consulted about the plans, have warned they risk inflicting hardship on sick and disabled people in the UK.
On Tuesday, it emerged that over 100 Labour MPs, including around a dozen Labour select committee chairs, have signed a reasonable amendment to the welfare bill which would effectively halt its passage through Parliament.
An official spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Tuesday that the government was offering a "good package of reforms" and insisted that the whole of Cabinet was united behind the proposals despite major backbench opposition.
"As the Prime Minister has set out, the government's mission is to fix what is broken and restore hope, and as he set out, nowhere is that clearer than the welfare system," they said.
"That system is currently failing people, it's trapping millions, it' is not incentivising work, it is not treating people with dignity and respect... we will reform welfare, provide that one-to-one support, that £1bn of tailored employment support, to protect people with lifelong conditions from endless reassessment, to support people to try work safely, the right to try, to make sure the government can always protect those who can't work."
They also said the government was committed to creating a "strong and sustainable" welfare system, but was aware of "the strength of feeling" over the reforms among Labour MPs.
"The Secretary of State is engaging and talking to colleagues and explaining why these reforms will help transform people's lives," they said.
"We will talk to them [MPs] over the next week, but the government believes this is a good package of reforms. And we hope that colleagues will engage positively with it."
A Labour backbencher, dismayed by the growing rebellion, told PoliticsHome: "Frankly, it shows we aren’t serious about doing big changes in this Parliament. The next four years are a waste of time if we can’t even do this. All quite depressing."
Additional reporting by Sienna Rodgers.
