Senior member of Anas Sarwar's shadow cabinet 'opposed' to Labour welfare cuts bill
A member of Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar 's shadow cabinet is opposed to Keir Starmer's welfare cuts for disabled people.
A senior party figure said Pam Duncan-Glancy is against a Labour Government bill campaigners warn will cost the vulnerable hundreds of pounds a year.
The insider said the education spokeswoman, a permanent wheelchair user, is angry about the plans.
They said: 'Pam has brought her lived experience to bear in leading the internal campaign against disability cuts. She has consistently made the strongest case against the cuts and has the ear of senior government figures.'
The Prime Ministe r is under mounting pressure over a welfare bill that would cut around £5bn from disability and sickness benefits.
A number of the benefit changes are UK-wide and the cuts are forecast to plunge 50,0000 children into poverty.
But the bill could be dumped after over 100 Labour MPs, twelve from Scotland, backed an amendment that would torpedo the whole package.
A party insider said Duncan-Glancy's opposition showed the Labour shadow cabinet at Holyrood is split over the plans.
When approached, Scottish Labour released a statement in Duncan-Glancy's name. She said: 'Everybody agrees reform is needed to address the structural challenges in the system, but those reforms need to be fair.
'Labour's plans include positives, for example increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance, scrapping the Work Capability Assessment, introducing a 'right to try', and investing £1 billion in employability support.'Disabled people are raising their concerns and it's right that people work to ensure these reforms deliver on Labour's ambitions to fix a broken system and support disabled people.'
Sarwar has so far walked a careful line between backing the principles of welfare reform while encouraging Starmer to listen to concerns.
In a Holyrood Sources podcast, Sarwar said of the bill: 'I support the principle of reform.'
'We do have to look at the structural challenges that exist in our welfare system.'
He also said there are ' many positives ' in the bill, such as £1bn for back to work schemes.
Asked if he agreed with the rebels, Sarwar said: 'Conversations are ongoing, as you would expect. People are legitimately raising their concerns, having those conversations.'
He added: 'We have to support the principle of reform. What those reforms look like have to be balanced and have to be fair.'
His comments are milder than the criticisms of mayors Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham.
Meanwhile, Starmer is in talks with Labour rebels over concessions to save the welfare reform package.
Sir Keir told MPs there was 'consensus" across the House on the "urgent need for reform' of the 'broken' welfare system.
'I know colleagues across the House are eager to start fixing that, and so am I, and that all colleagues want to get this right, and so do I,' he said.
'We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness. That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.'
SNP MSP George Adam said: "The UK Labour government is slashing vital support for disabled people and under Anas Sarwar's leadership, Scottish Labour is rowing in behind them.
"So far, Anas Sarwar has faithfully backed his Westminster bosses - but a growing number of his own colleagues have finally seen the irreparable damage these cuts will do.
"While Scottish Labour won't stand up for Scotland, the SNP has called for the cuts to be scrapped.
"The people of Scotland deserve far better than continued Westminster austerity. Only with the full powers of independence can Scotland escape Westminster's austerity obsession."
A key element of the welfare package is freezing the rate of the health element of Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance payments until 2030.
In a briefing to parliamentarians, the Trussell charity estimated that there are nearly 300,000 people receiving these payments in Scotland: "All would stand to be affected by the freeze which by 2029/30 amounts to [a] real terms cut of £500 per year.'
The Scottish Labour MP sceptics are Richard Baker, Scott Arthur, Euan Stainbank, Brian Leishman, Lilian Jones, Tracy Gilbert and Elaine Stewart.
Kirsteen Sullivan, Patricia Ferguson, Martin Rhodes, Maureen Burke and Irene Campbell are also opposed.
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