Starmer survives rebellion as watered down welfare cuts pass key vote

Sir Keir Starmer's arguable payment measure has passed its archetypal hurdle successful the Commons contempt a sizeable rebellion from his MPs.

The premier minister's watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, aimed astatine redeeming £5.5bn, was backed by a bulk of 75 connected Tuesday evening.

A full of 49 Labour MPs voted against the measure - the largest rebellion since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair's Lone Parent payment successful 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

Politics latest: Chancellor near successful 'impossible situation' aft PM survives payment rebellion

After aggregate concessions made owed to threats of a Labour rebellion, galore MPs questioned what they were voting for arsenic the measure had been severely stripped down.

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.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the measure voted done "is not expected to present immoderate savings implicit the adjacent 4 years" due to the fact that the savings from reducing the Universal Credit wellness constituent for caller claimants volition beryllium astir offset by the outgo of expanding the UC modular allowance.

Just 90 minutes earlier voting started connected Tuesday evening, disabilities curate Stephen Timms announced the past of a bid of concessions made arsenic dozens of Labour MPs spoke of their fears for disabled and sick radical if the measure was made law.

How did your MP ballot connected Labour's payment bill?

In a large U-turn, helium said changes successful eligibility for the idiosyncratic independency outgo (PIP), the main disablement outgo to assistance wage for other costs incurred, would not instrumentality spot until a reappraisal helium is carrying retired into the payment is published successful autumn 2026.

An amendment brought by Labour MP Rachael Maskell, which aimed to forestall the measure progressing to the adjacent stage, was defeated but 44 Labour MPs voted for it.

A Number 10 root told Sky News' governmental exertion Beth Rigby: "Change isn't easy, we've ever known that, we're determined to present connected the mandate the state gave us, to marque Britain enactment for hardworking people.

"We judge the volition of the house, and privation to instrumentality colleagues with us, our destination - a societal information strategy that supports the astir vulnerable, and enables radical to thrive - remains."

But the Conservative shadiness chancellor Mel Stride called the ballot "farcical" and said the authorities "ended up successful this unspeakable situation" due to the fact that they "rushed it".

He warned the markets "will person noticed that erstwhile it comes to taking tougher decisions astir controlling and spending, this authorities has been recovered wanting".

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: "I privation we'd got to this constituent successful a antithetic way. And determination are perfectly lessons to learn.

"But I deliberation it's truly important we walk this measure astatine the 2nd reading, it enactment immoderate truly important reforms to the payment strategy - tackling enactment disincentives, making definite that radical with terrible conditions would nary longer beryllium assessed and alongside our concern successful employment enactment this volition assistance radical get backmost to work, due to the fact that that's the brighter aboriginal for them."

She made further concessions connected Monday successful the anticipation the rebels' fears would beryllium allayed, but galore were acrophobic the PIP eligibility was going to beryllium changed astatine the aforesaid clip the reappraisal was published, meaning its findings would not beryllium taken into account.

Her changes were:

• Current PIP claimants, and immoderate up to November 2026, would person the aforesaid eligibility criteria arsenic they bash now, alternatively of the stricter measurement proposed

• A consultation into PIP to beryllium "co-produced" with disabled radical and published successful autumn 2026

• For existing and aboriginal Universal Credit (UC) claimants, the combined worth of the modular UC allowance and the wellness top-up volition emergence "at slightest successful enactment with inflation" each twelvemonth for the remainder of this parliament

• The UC wellness top-up, for radical with constricted quality to enactment owed to a disablement oregon semipermanent sickness, volition get a £300m boost adjacent twelvemonth - doubling the existent magnitude - past rising to £800m the twelvemonth aft and £1bn successful 2028/29.