
Government's diluted welfare bill clears House of Commons
Personal independence payment (Pip) is paid to people with long-term physical or mental health conditions and is not linked to the recipient's savings or income. In contrast, universal credit (UC) is means-tested and designed to help support the unemployed or low-paid people. Urging MPs to back the bill, Disabilities Minister Sir Stephen Timms said: "If you can work, you should, if you need help into work, the government should provide it, and those who can't work must be able to live with dignity."Those are the principles underpinning what we're doing."The government said nearly four million households would see their income boosted by £725 over the next five years, as a result of increasing the universal credit standard allowance.Despite the government's climbdown last week, 47 Labour MPs still voted against the legislation and backed a rebel amendment tabled by York MP Rachael Maskell. During a debate ahead of the final votes, Maskell called the bill an "omnishambles" which would result in different levels of UC to people depending on whether they had claimed before or after April 2026.She asked if someone who came off universal credit as their illness subsided but then had a relapse and needed the benefit would be awarded a lower rate compared to what they had previously received.Sir Stephen said the bill already protected people in the situation she had described.However, Maskell pushed her amendment to a vote which would see those with fluctuating medical conditions receive the existing rate of UC, rather than the lower rate applied to new claimants. It was defeated by 334 votes to 149. The Conservatives also tabled an amendment which would have made further changes including reducing payments for those with less severe mental health conditions and excluding some foreign nationals from certain benefits. It was defeated by 416 votes to 103. In the final vote, MPs approve the bill by 336 votes votes to 242.The changes to universal credit will apply across the UK while any measures relating to Pip apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Last week - in order to ensure the bill could pass - ministers were forced to make last-minute concessions including announcing that stricter eligibility rules for new Pip claimants would not be introduced until a review into Pip assessments had been completed.The review - which aims to conclude in autumn 2026 - will be led by Disabilities Minister Sir Stephen Timms and would be co-produced with disabled people and the organisations that represent them. During Wednesday's debate, several Labour MPs urged the government to strengthen the role of disabled people in the review. Labour MP Marie Tidball said their involvement in the Timms review should be "meaningful and not performative". Another Labour MP, Stella Creasy, said disabled organisations should have veto power over any recommendations made by the review. Before MPs had begun their debate, a United Nations panel raised concerns about the impact the government's proposals would have on disabled people.In a letter to the Department for Work and Pensions, the UN's high commissioner asked about measures to "address the foreseeable risk of increasing poverty rates amongst persons with disabilities if cuts are approved".The government had estimated the bill would save £5bn a year by 2030, however the concessions it made to ensure the bill could pass mean those savings have been virtually wiped out.Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was asked if the changes would lead to tax rises. She said she would not "speculate" but added: "Of course there is a cost to the welfare changes that Parliament voted through this week and that will be reflected in the Budget."
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The BBC understands this means Jellycat would still supply them with stock, where available, but would not given them an Official Jellycat Stockist sticker to display in their shop in this group was Erica Stahl, owner of Pippin, a gift shop in Edinburgh. She told the BBC she was "speechless" when she read the email and that she chose to close her told the BBC: "We select our stockists carefully so that we know customers will receive a joyful experience in their stores, and so Jellycat characters can be found throughout the country." Jellycat became a TikTok hit Shop owners told the BBC Jellycat's toys had always been a stable seller, bought as gifts for newborns or by children saving up pocket money. 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'Dribs and drabs' of stock However, with Jellycat's rise in popularity, came changes to the availability of stock, the shop owners approximately the last 12 months, since the toys became more of an online trend, Mr Orrell said stock would only arrive in "dribs and drabs" and his shop had had to reduce the size of its Jellycat display. Collectors visiting his store were getting "more and more disappointed" with what was Kenyon, co-owner of JAK Hanson, a department store near Wigan, said he would wait months for some orders, or they would arrive incomplete. Customers would travel from around the UK to buy Jellycat toys from his store, but he couldn't advise customers on when stock was arriving as he didn't owners and managers said they felt Jellycat was prioritising its relationships with bigger retailers."It became nearly impossible to even order any of the bestselling stock," said Miss Stahl."Small independents like myself are only allowed to order from a list of random mismatched odds and ends that the big shops clearly didn't want," she said. Charlotte Stray, of Keydell Nurseries in Hampshire, agreed. Independent stores were "pushed to the back of the queue" for stock, she Keydell Nurseries got the letter in June saying Jellycat would no longer be supplying it, "we weren't happy, but we'd been disappointed in the last six, eight months over the supply anyway," Mrs Stray said."We've been increasing our supply to both types of stores - small independents and national retailers - at the overall same rate," Jellycat told the BBC. "Keeping all our partners well stocked remains a challenge, and we're constantly working behind the scenes to improve how we plan, allocate and deliver stock as fairly and thoughtfully as we can."The company said independent stores would continue to be "as important in our future as they've been in our past". 'It's left a really sour taste in my mouth' Mrs Stray said that by cutting off some stockists, Jellycat was "crushing independent stores", who had supported the brand from the start and relied on it for a big portion of their have said they are not happy about how Jellycat has treated independent stores, with negative comments flooding the brand's recent social media posts. A post by Miss Stahl on her shop's Instagram account about Jellycat telling her she did not qualify as an "official stockist" has nearly 50,000 likes, with many commenters criticising the brand's conduct."I think they've really let themselves down," Bex Christensen, 38, a photographer from Nork Yorkshire, told the BBC. She's been collecting Jellycat toys for more than 20 years and "it's always been from independent shops", she also buys the toys for her two children and estimates that, between them, they have about 100 Jellycat toys at home."As a purchaser, it's made it really difficult because my kids love it - but it's left a really sour taste in my mouth," she said. "Jellycat grew off independent businesses."Jellycat told the BBC it was doing more than ever to support the independent stores it works with, and was planning new initiatives and stores the BBC spoke to said they were going to stock different plush toys Orrell is optimistic about the future of his business."We'll certainly survive," he said. "We've been going a lot longer than Jellycat have. We're not too concerned."