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Around 39 Labour MPs have shown they will vote against Kiel Star welfare reform on Tuesday evening in a tense showdown between the prime minister and his backventures last week.
Last Thursday’s priority position led to the withdrawal of a “inference amendment,” designed to kill a bill backed by 126 Labour lawmakers.
However, on Monday evening, Labour MPs expressed a second reasoning amendment with the same intent that quickly acquired 39 signatures from Labour MPs and a handful from members of the other parties.
York Central MP Rachel Maskell said the amendment will be presented on behalf of deaf and disabled organisations and “give them a voice in this discussion, as their agents are not being heard.” She said, “Even loyal lawmakers who were planning on voting for government reform are considering abstaining.”
That total could rise over the course of the day, with expectations on Tuesday going to be the day of the desperate final lobbying of undecided lawmakers in Westminster.
Official estimates on Monday showed that the revised measures would push 150,000 people into poverty by restricting access to disability benefits to new applicants ©Carl Court/Getty Images
Given the majority of the government’s 165, 83 Labour MPs who need to rebel to defeat the bill if all other parties vote.
The minister is hoping to eat up 16 people who opposed the plan and infrastructure bill earlier this month and see the biggest rebellion of the preferred star premiership.
According to Philip Cowley, a political professor at Queen Mary University, Tony Blair’s biggest rebellion in his first year involved 47 backventures.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds defended the bill on Tuesday, saying it was better than what we have now.
“At this point, we’re spending a lot of money on poor results,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
Official estimates on Monday showed that the revised measures would drive 150,000 people into poverty by restricting access to disability benefits to new applicants.
Those who described the debate said there is unlikely to be any further concessions before Tuesday’s vote, but talks are underway between the government’s whip and Labour lawmakers.
Liz Kendall, the secretary of work and pensions, will begin discussions at lunchtime, where votes are expected to be voted at around 7pm.
Kendall set the government’s intentions in the next phase of the bill, including Monday’s concession, but the proposal still faced intense criticism from workers’ back-ventures, including fears of creating a “two-tier” system with better support for existing claimants.
During the cabinet meeting at 9:30am, priority is expected to advocate for reforms designed to curb the Balloon Welfare Bill, encouraging people to return to work.
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Welfare reforms will make it difficult for new applicants to obtain “individual independent payments” (PIP). This is the main type of disability benefits.
Senior Labour MP Debbie Abrahams told ITV before the vote that he “pleads the government to think again.” “We absolutely recognize these are good concessions, but we’re not there yet,” she said.
