… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Category: Cost of Living crisis

  • Labour MPs launch major rebellion to stop welfare bill

    Spread the love

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/23/labour-mps-launch-major-rebellion-to-stop-benefits-cuts-bill

    Liz Kendall urged her colleagues to support the bill; however, dozens of backbenchers have already signed the amendment seeking to kill it off. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock

    Amendment intended to kill off legislation that would cut benefits could be backed by up to 100 Labour MPs including senior figures

    …

    Dozens of backbench MPs have signed the amendment. Government whips have already been steeling themselves for a rebellion on the welfare bill when it is first voted on next week.

    A senior MP said: “The government hasn’t listened to private concerns so now will have to address these very public ones.”

    The aim would be to pass a so-called “reasoned amendment”, which halts the passage of a bill. It means the bill would not pass its second reading, saying that provisions “have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers”.

    It also says the bill should not pass until the Office for Budget Responsibility can publish its analysis of the employment impact of the changes this autumn. The amendment adds that most of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade.

    It notes the government’s own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of the provisions, including 50,000 children. It calls for an assessment of the impact of the changes on health or care needs and for the conclusion of other reviews.

    …

    Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/23/labour-mps-launch-major-rebellion-to-stop-benefits-cuts-bill

    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.

  • Chancellor “knows know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” say Greens in response to Spending Review

    Spread the love
    Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
    Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.

    Responding to the Spending Review, Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay MP, said,

    “Today’s Spending Review shows we have a chancellor who seems to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. While today Reeves may have balanced her spreadsheet, it is done on the backs of some of the worst off in our society. The proof is in how many will still be feeling worse off as the cost-of-living crisis bites hard.

    People want to feel pride in Britain again, and for this, they need real hope. Hope only comes from seeing how things will improve through real investment in the everyday services we all rely on.

    Despite the rhetoric in the chamber, it is clear that this Spending Review represents a squeeze in many frontline budgets. With education, for example, where many schools are already being forced to make difficult budget cuts, core school budgets are set to rise by just 0.6%. It is hard to see this money ever reaching our teachers and children in the classroom. Equally, I am horrified to see real-term cuts to Defra funding, just as the impact of climate change is starting to affect our communities. Now is the time to invest in climate resilience and preparedness.”

    He continued, “These ‘tough decisions’ are actually ‘Labour’s political choices’. They are choosing to leave the economy tilted towards those with considerable wealth. Our front-line services continue to deteriorate through a political choice of decline by design. By introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich, we could instead properly invest in our children’s future. We could give them the education they deserve and start now to invest in the climate resilience and preparedness they will need throughout their lives as the climate crisis unfolds.”

  • Unions won’t accept benefit cuts on the ‘most vulnerable,’ TUC leader says

    Spread the love

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-wont-accept-benefit-cuts-most-vulnerable-tuc-leader-says

     House of Commons Handout photo issued by the House of Commons of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her Government’s spending review to MPs in the House of Commons, London, June 11, 2025

    UNIONS will not accept any benefit cuts that plunge the most vulnerable further into poverty, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told GMB Congress today.

    Speaking before Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her spending review, he told delegates in Brighton that ”if 2024 was a year of change, 2025 has to be a year of deliver, a year where the government makes good its promises to working people.”

    He said the first of three priorities for the union federation this year was ”to make sure the government delivers its manifesto commitments that won it the election last year. 

    ”I want ministers to also think again on their current plans to reform social security,” Mr Nowak said. ”Nobody unable to work should be left out of pocket and nobody in work at the moment or looking for work should see their benefits cut to balance the nation’s books.

    ”When it comes to social security, we cannot and will not accept the most vulnerable being plunged further into poverty.”

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-wont-accept-benefit-cuts-most-vulnerable-tuc-leader-says

    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
    Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.
    Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.

  • Work and pensions secretary tells MPs controversial disability benefit reforms will go ahead next year

    Spread the love

    https://news.sky.com/story/work-and-pensions-secretary-tells-mps-controversial-disability-benefit-reforms-will-go-ahead-next-year-13382300

    Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall. File pic: PA

    Liz Kendall rejects calls to delay the changes until a full assessment is carried out of the impact on employment, poverty and health.

    The government has told MPs it will not back down from its controversial reforms to disability benefits, which are set to be introduced to parliament later this month.

    More than 100 Labour MPs are thought to have concerns about the plans to cut nearly £5bn from the welfare bill by restricting personal independence payments (PIP) and the health top-up to Universal Credit.

    Charities say the changes will have a “catastrophic” effect on vulnerable people.

    The chair of the Commons’ Work and Pensions Committee wrote to the secretary of state, Liz Kendall, last month, calling on the government to delay the changes until a full assessment is carried out of the impact on employment, poverty and health.

    Labour MP Debbie Abrahams wrote that while there was a case for reform to disability benefits, “the evidence indicated [these changes] might not improve outcomes for most claimants, but instead push many into poverty and further away from the labour market”.

    ‘Reforms are needed now’

    But Ms Kendall has written back, in a letter made public on Wednesday, to reject the idea because the bill needs final approval from parliament in November in order for the changes to take effect in 2026.

    …

    Article continues at https://news.sky.com/story/work-and-pensions-secretary-tells-mps-controversial-disability-benefit-reforms-will-go-ahead-next-year-13382300

    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
    Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
    Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.
    Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.

  • Labour’s disability benefit cuts will force nearly half a million people to turn to food banks

    Spread the love

    https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disability-benefit-cuts-food-banks-trussell/

    A volunteer at a food bank packaging supplies. Credit: IFAN Mary Turner The Welcome Centre

    Food banks are already overwhelmed by demand for help. Disability benefit cuts will make it worse, the government has been warned

    Hundreds of thousands of people living in disabled households will be at risk of needing to use a food bank if the government goes ahead with its plans for benefit cuts, new research has found.

    Experts at Trussell and WPI economics have estimated that 440,000 people who are disabled or living with a disabled person would have to use a food bank by the end of the decade.
    he decade.

    As MPs prepare to vote on legislation to introduce the cuts, charities and disability campaigners are urging the government to rethink its plans.

    Read more:

    Labour’s proposals include tightening the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP), with the government estimating that around 800,000 people would see their support reduced by 2028/2029.

    It also plans to freeze the health element of universal credit for current claimants, slash it in half for new claimants and cut it entirely for people under the age of 22.

    Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said: “This UK government was elected on a promise of change, and with a commitment to end the need for food banks. If the government goes ahead with these ill-considered and cruel cuts to social security, this promise will not be kept – and instead, they will risk leaving behind a legacy of rising poverty and hunger.

    “Tackling fiscal challenges should not be done at the expense of people already facing hunger and hardship. These cuts will force 440,000 people in disabled households into severe hardship and leave them at risk of needing a food bank. We urge the government not to continue down this damaging path.”

    …

    Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disability-benefit-cuts-food-banks-trussell/

    Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
    Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.