6 days ago
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Sir Keir Starmer's watered down payment measure has passed its last signifier successful the Commons, aft different concession was made to MPs.
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill passed by 336 votes to 242 connected Wednesday nighttime - a bulk of 94.
Politics latest: Starmer and Macron hold connected request for caller tiny vessel 'deterrent'
In a bid to thwart further absorption to the measure pursuing past week's climbdown, the authorities said it would not effort to present immoderate much reforms to idiosyncratic independency payments (PIP) until a reappraisal by enactment and pensions curate Sir Stephen Timms connected the appraisal process has concluded.
Sir Stephen said helium wanted to decorativeness his reappraisal by adjacent autumn, but that the authorities would not hold to implicit the reappraisal successful 12 months arsenic immoderate MPs wanted.
Marie Tidball, the Labour MP who had called for the 12-month limit, aboriginal signalled she was blessed with the government's compromise.
Ministers besides agreed to her calls to person a bulk of the taskforce looking astatine PIP to beryllium disabled oregon from disablement organisations, and for the result of the reappraisal to travel earlier immoderate PIP changes. It volition besides beryllium voted connected by MPs.
A full of 47 Labour MPs person rebelled against the authorities to ballot against its payment reforms.
Mother of the House Diane Abbott, erstwhile curate Dawn Butler, Andy McDonald, Stella Creasy and Jonathan Brash were among those successful the "no" lobby.
Meanwhile, MPs rejected a abstracted amendment by Green MP Sian Berry, which called for the basal complaint of cosmopolitan recognition to summation by 4.8% supra ostentation each twelvemonth until 2030.
A full of 39 Labour MPs voted for scrapping the clauses that halved Universal Credit for caller claimants - the lone large chopped near successful the measure aft the authorities made its concessions.
The passing of the measure volition travel arsenic a alleviation to Sir Keir Starmer, who past week was forced into a humiliating climbdown implicit his flagship payment bundle successful the look of important absorption from his ain MPs.
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Prior to the ballot past Tuesday, the authorities offered important concessions including exempting existing idiosyncratic independency outgo claimants (PIP) from stricter caller criteria and lone freezing and cutting the cosmopolitan recognition wellness top-up for caller applications.
As the ballot past week unfolded, it offered further confessions amid concerns the measure could beryllium voted down - notably, that changes successful eligibility for PIP would not instrumentality spot until a reappraisal helium is carrying retired into the payment is published successful autumn 2026.
They ended up voting for lone 1 portion of the plan: a chopped to Universal Credit (UC) sickness benefits for caller claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
A full of 49 Labour MPs voted against the measure - the largest rebellion successful a premier minister's archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair's Lone Parent payment successful 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.
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