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I will vote against the Welfare Bill – I don’t want anyone to feel the regret I’ve had since 2015

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https://www.politicshome.com/opinion/article/i-will-vote-against-the-welfare-bill

The government agreed to make two major changes to the welfare bill ahead of a House of Commons vote on Tuesday (Alamy)

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On Tuesday, we are being asked to vote for the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in its original form because the concessions promised are not written into the Bill yet. We are being asked again to ‘trust’ that the Bill will change in committee.

But even with the promised concessions, we are still being asked to tighten eligibility criteria. A cut in support for those who will need it the most.

I am one of several disabled MPs, and not once did anyone from the Cabinet or No 10 reach out to me. Even worse, it appears they didn’t reach out to the multitude of disabled rights organisations or trade unions in agreeing to those concessions. Why were they not in the room when vital decisions about their lives were made?

These concessions are about party management and saving face.

There is no new bill, there are no new explanatory notes, and there are no impact assessments on the new proposals, and no time for sufficient scrutiny. There has been no formal consultation with disabled people. The majority of employment support won’t be in place until the end of the decade, access to work is in a worse state than ever before, it is unclear what the impact on carers’ allowances will be, and it creates a two-tier benefit system where disabled people will be worse off.

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https://www.politicshome.com/opinion/article/i-will-vote-against-the-welfare-bill

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

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 June 2025
Post category:austerity Austerity 2 benefits Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Keir Starmer Labour Party Rachel Reeves
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Poll: Majority of Labour members want party to move to the left

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https://labourlist.org/2025/06/news-labour-polling-survation-left-move

A majority of Labour members want the party to move to the left, according to exclusive polling by Survation for LabourList.

Survation asked Labour members what direction Labour should move in order to win the next election.

They were given four options: move to the left, move to the right, move further and faster on the current agenda, and don’t know.

The most popular answer by far was to move to the left, with 64% of members choosing this option.

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https://labourlist.org/2025/06/news-labour-polling-survation-left-move

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 June 2025
Post category:Jeremy Corbyn Keir Starmer Labour Party
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The Guardian view on Labour’s disability benefits rethink: concessions suggest strategy not a change of heart

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/27/the-guardian-view-on-labours-disability-benefits-rethink-concessions-suggest-strategy-not-a-change-of-heart

Many Labour MPs still believe these are the wrong reforms and will vote against the bill next week. Photograph: Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans risk creating lasting inequality – and alienating the very voters who once believed his party stood for their protection

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The upshot is that existing claimants would be protected, but future ones face tougher rules. Two people with identical conditions could receive support, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, that differs by up to £6,560 a year – purely due to timing. This, we’re told, is compassion. The savings – halved to £2.5bn a year – come by offloading the cost on to future claimants. MPs rightly fear this locks in a two-tier system that is deliberately harsher on disabled people.

Older Labour MPs will remember denouncing this very playbook. A decade ago, Iain Duncan Smith pioneered a slow, procedural tightening of welfare – hitting new claimants first, then reassessing the rest – precisely to defuse resistance. Labour opposed it then. Today, it is governing by the same method. It feels out of step with a post-pandemic Britain grappling with a cost of living crisis.

Many Labour MPs believe these are still the wrong reforms and will vote against the bill when it comes back to the House of Commons next week. Clearly, tightened eligibility and a two-tier system may exclude many who need support. If the government wants to raise money, it might ask a little more of those with the broadest shoulders – not those with mobility aids, care plans and the audacity to ask for a fair deal. If ministers truly believe they are acting decently, they should publish the impact assessment and be honest about the consequences.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/27/the-guardian-view-on-labours-disability-benefits-rethink-concessions-suggest-strategy-not-a-change-of-heart

Post author:dizzy
Post published:29 June 2025
Post category:austerity Austerity 2 benefits Cost of Living crisis crap pretend Labour Keir Starmer Labour Party politics
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‘Too arrogant to listen’: how welfare bill soured Starmer’s relations with rebel MPs

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/29/they-didnt-think-wed-have-the-guts-how-labour-rebels-forced-the-governments-welfare-u-turn

Keir Starmer in The Hague on Wednesday, where he called the rebellion over the welfare bill ‘noises off’. Photograph: Kin Cheung/Reuters

MPs describe receiving veiled deselection threats as No 10 sought to quash revolt before finally backing down

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MPs say they received a litany of threats, including the possibility of a general election. Those on the right of the party were warned their actions could bring about a leadership challenge that would be won by Angela Rayner. The same threat was made to those on the left, but with Wes Streeting as the looming spectre.

Others say they have received veiled threats of deselection, or that their funding for the next general election would be decided on the basis of whether or not they toed the line. One party official allegedly rang a rebellious MP’s husband in order to get her to back down.

“I don’t even think some of this is sanctioned by No 10,” one MP said. “Until Wednesday they had their fingers in their ears. But those who are responsible for party management have been absolutely losing it.”

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Yet the number of rebels continued to grow, and No 10 finally bowed to the inevitable. On Thursday morning, the prime minister used a Commons statement ostensibly about international affairs to promise a welfare rethink.

Until that point, Starmer had seemed oddly detached from the issue, surfacing intermittently at summits to bat away questions about the revolt – or “noises off” as he termed it – as a distraction from the vital task of transforming welfare.

Some MPs view this as indicative of a prime minister more than usually disconnected from the everyday grid of parliamentary business, as illustrated by the statistic that since winning the election he has voted in the Commons just seven times.

A few have begun to openly speculate about what the situation means for Starmer’s leadership. “It is very bad for Keir. It is one in four of his MPs [that intended to rebel]. He is toast,” one MP said.

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/29/they-didnt-think-wed-have-the-guts-how-labour-rebels-forced-the-governments-welfare-u-turn