Changes to UC & PIP payments in full as Labour reveals bruising welfare bill concessions in bid to quell rebellion

Scottish Sun

2 days ago

BENEFITS SWITCH Changes to UC & PIP payments in full as Labour reveals bruising welfare bill concessions in bid to quell rebellion
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
BRUISING concessions to the government's welfare plans are being laid out by Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall following a humiliating u-turn.
Changes to Personal Independence Payments and Universal Credit are being spelled out to MPs ahead of a crunch vote tomorrow.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
1
Cabinet MInister Liz Kendall reveals changes to benefits system after u-turn
Credit: Alamy
Ms Kendall told MPs: "Protecting existing claimants, whilst beginning to focus people on those with higher needs for new claimants going forward, strikes the right and fair balance."
Outlining some of the costs, she said that the measures she outlined will cost £2.5 billion in 2029-30.
But Sir Keir Starmer is facing a fresh backlash as 150,000 people will still be pushed into poverty by the end of the decade despite his benefits u-turn.
Dozens of Labour rebels are yet to be convinced to back the Downing Street proposals despite the number being affected nearly reduced in half.
The staggering estimate is less than the original forecast of 250,000 extra people left in relative poverty once their housing costs have been stripped out.
But the current figures don't include any possible 'positive impact' from extra funds going in to support people with disabilities and long-term health issues.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome said: "Even with the concessions, the government's own analysis forecasts that 150,000 people could still be pushed into poverty by disability benefit cuts by the end of the decade.
'As Labour MPs, we didn't enter politics to make struggling constituents poorer. We must stop this Bill.'
The Prime Minister faced a major revolt with 126 of his Labour MPs threatening to wreck his flagship legislation and throw it out.
But he made a partial u-turn allowing personal independence payment changes to only apply to new claimants from November next year.
The same applied to Ministerial plans on the health-related element of Universal Credit.
But the changes mean Chancellor Rachel Reeves will have to find more cash to meet the savings, first thought to be £3 billion.
It comes after the u-turn on winter fuel payments which will leave a £1.5 billion hole in the public finances.
The Labour leadership are still engaged in talking to the rebels to vote for the bill even though big changes were made.
Backbench MP Clive Efford who has been a Labour MP since 1997 said he would still oppose welfare plans despite major concessions.
When asked if he had changed his mind to back the government, he said: 'No, I've not, I'm afraid.
'There are still £3.5bn worth of savings that are required in these measures and we don't yet know the poverty impact that they will have.'
A No 10 spokesman said: 'The broken welfare system we inherited is failing people every single day.
"It traps millions, it tells them the only way to get help is to declare they'll never work again and then abandons them.
'No help, no opportunity, no dignity and we can't accept that. For too long, meaningful reform to a failing system has been ducked.'
The terms of reference for a comprehensive review of the Pip payments led by Welfare Minister Sir Stephen Timms will also be set out. But it will not report for another year.
It will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and MPs.
Sir Keir Starmer said last week that the changes now strike the 'right balance' despite the government earlier saying there will be no u-turns.
He said: 'The most important thing is that we can make the reform we need.
'We talked to colleagues, who've made powerful representations, as a result of which we've got a package which I think will work, we can get it right.
'For me, getting that package adjusted in that way is the right thing to do, it means it's the right balance, it's common sense that we can now get on with it.'
But despite the concessions Mikey Erhardt, from Disability Rights UK, last week accused the Government of 'playing politics with our lives', saying the vote next Tuesday must still be pulled.
He said the changes will mean 'a benefits system where future generations of disabled people receive less support than disabled people today'.
He added that the original decision 'prioritised balancing its books over improving the lives of disabled citizens'.
Mr Erhardt added: 'Despite seemingly rowing back on some of the worst aspects of its plans, the Government is still attempting to slash billions of pounds from a system that doesn't provide enough support as it stands.'
The MS Society said Ministers were simply 'kicking the can down the road and delaying an inevitable disaster'.
They urged MPs 'not to be swayed by these last-ditch attempts to force through a harmful Bill with supposed concessions'.