25th Jun 2025 09:41
(Alliance News) - Keir Starmer has insisted he will have a showdown with Labour rebels over the welfare reforms which have split his party.
The UK prime minister said the Commons vote would go ahead next week Tuesday as planned despite 120 Labour MPs publicly backing a move to block the legislation.
Starmer said his party was elected "to change that which is broken" and the welfare system "doesn't work for anyone".
Insisting the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would not be pulled in the face of the mounting rebellion, Starmer told LBC: "There'll be a vote on Tuesday, we're going to make sure we reform the welfare system."
The legislation plans to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment, the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit, with the aim of getting more people back into work and saving up to GBP5 billion a year.
Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition.
But the fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to a "reasoned amendment", a move which would stop the Bill in its tracks, shows how entrenched the opposition is.
Defending the plans while at the Nato summit in The Hague, Starmer said the current system "traps people in a position where they can't get into work".
"In fact, it's counterproductive, it works against them getting into work," he said.
"So we have to reform it, and that is a Labour argument, it's a progressive argument."
The rebels argue that disabled people have not been properly consulted about the plan and say further analysis is required before making any changes.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham added his voice to the senior figures calling on the government to reconsider.
He told BBC Newsnight: "When the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party] delivers its collective wisdom in such numbers, it is invariably right. And it is right on this.
"I would say to the government, listen to the PLP."
His comments came after his London counterpart, Sadiq Khan, said that ministers "must urgently think again" about the plans.
Labour's First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan has also called for a rethink of the plans.
Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, who has already taken steps to soften the impact of the welfare Bill, has been locked in talks with backbenchers as she seeks to win over those opposed to the measures.
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch said the Tories would lend the government votes to pass the legislation but only if Labour rules out tax rises in the autumn budget as well as reducing unemployment and lowering the welfare budget.
By David Hughes and Chris McKeon in The Hague
Press Association: News
source: PA
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