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Keir Starmer’s government is preparing to face his prime minister’s biggest backbench rebellion next month, and only small concessions have been made on the controversial welfare bill.
A Labour MP involved in organizing rebels ahead of the Crunch vote on welfare reform outlined in Parliament on Wednesday said more than 160 people disagree with the proposal.
When asked to vote for some of the reforms in early July, he added that there are likely lawmakers resigning from their role as private secretaries (unpaid assistants to ministers).
The British Prime Minister has already announced he has withdrawn from his deeply unpopular decision to strip around 100,000 pensioners of winter fuel payments, indicating his eagerness to scrapping the benefits caps for two important contributors to child poverty.
Some government officials believe that, while many lawmakers are not convinced, these moves have become far enough to appease some rebels.
“I think these things are completely separate,” said the MP, who said he plans to vote against the bill in its current format, and said, “I’m still very concerned about what’s on the table and how it will affect my constituents.”
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Senior Labour Party members have accused many of them of claiming it has increased anger among lawmakers of MPs over the decision to frame a drastic cut to the welfare system as part of the Treasury’s cost-cutting exercise. Some feel that it should be presented as an effort to fix non-functioning systems and bring more people to work.
Government estimates that reforms on both disability and impossibility benefits are expected to save the Treasury by around £4.8 billion. The reform means that approximately 800,000 fewer people will be eligible for disability benefits, including those who need to wash or shower, and is expected to come into effect in November 2026.
To appease rebels, the government says it will provide a 13-week transition period in which individuals are rated as not qualifying for independent payments (PIP).
The government said that around 200,000 people deemed to have the most serious and permanently disabled conditions would also be exempt from reevaluating their eligibility.
Another rebel lawmaker said, “It doesn’t matter whether I’m still voting against people in Week 13 or Week 13.”
MP added that she approached her this week. “I recognize the need for some kind of reform, but this is unacceptable,” she said.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner attempted to present the proposed reforms as the centre of the labor agenda rather than the antithesis, saying on Wednesday that “labor is the party of work, fairness and social justice.”
Rayner refused to say whether the whip would be removed from lawmakers who voted against the government.
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Even after the proposed reforms, the total number of people with working age with disability benefits is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this assembly. Government estimates that spending on this aid is expected to increase from £23 billion in 2024-25 to £31 billion in 2029-30.
