The sound of silence for Liz Kendall was a big problem for Starmer beyond welfare reform
But this was not the case for Liz Kendall whose statement to the House on last minute changes to her much criticised welfare bill was met with a prickly uncomfortable silence and barely an audible sound of approval from the Labour benches behind her.
The work and pensions secretary had in essence been forced to come to the Commons a day early to outline her changes to the welfare bill made in desperation because more than 130 Labour MPs had signed an amendment which would kill it.
In fairness to Ms Kendall she was in a much more ameliorant mood than she was when she first announced reforms to the benefits system back in March.
The work and pensions secretary is leaning much more heavily on positive 'Labour measures' about supporting those unable to work or who need help getting back into work.
It is a much better approach than her 'we need to save £5bn of savings' attempt when she first announced the reforms in March.
Since then the threat of a massive rebellion has forced the government to change its tone.
But the silence behind Ms Kendall on the Labour benches seems to suggest that she still has work to do to persuade her reluctant colleagues to support the reforms.
The minister has been described by one colleague as 'the equivalent of putting the grim reaper in charge of a home for the elderly' in her role as the cabinet minister responsible for benefits.
And her task was not helped at all by the government's own impact assessment, published just an hour before she got to her feet, that 150,000 people are likely to be plunged into poverty as a result of her plans.
Admittedly this is not as bad as the 250,000 (including 50,000 children) who would have been hit under the unamended plans but it was not news that was ever going to quell a rebellion.
Labour work and pensions committee chair Debbie Abrahams had signalled that the rebellion was still on in an interview on ITV News ahead of the statement.
Things did not get better as Labour MP after Labour MP demanded that she postpone the legislation tomorrow.
On the hottest day of the year it was clear that despite halving the much needed savings from £5bn to £2.5bn Ms Kendall and prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will have to continue to sweat tonight over what they may face in the voting lobby tomorrow.
More than that though the whole episode in the chamber was symbolic of a Labour parliamentary party that appears to have run out of patience with its leader and being asked to support tough decisions many just think are plain cruel. Chopping disability benefits, creating a two tier welfare system, and taking away winter fuel payments are not reasons people become Labour MPs.
Withdrawing the welfare bill or postponing the vote could prove to be a humiliation too far for the prime minister but a rebellion of 50 or more MPs will be extremely damaging too.
The debate is set to continue on Tuesday with the second reading of the bill but Sir Keir will be hoping that the disgruntled silence gives way to cheers from Labour MPs soon if he wants to repair his tattered authority.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
MPs back proscribing direct action group Palestine Action as terror organisation
MPs have backed the Government's move to ban direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, despite warnings it will have a 'chilling effect' on protest. Legislation passed in the Commons on Wednesday, as MPs voted 385 to 26, majority 359 in favour of proscribing the group under the Terrorism Act 2000. The motion is expected to be debated and voted on by the House of Lords on Thursday before it becomes law. If approved, it would become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison to be a member of the direct action group or to support it. Security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs that protesters expressing support for Palestine 'have always been able to, and can continue to do so' as he urged support to ban Palestine Action. He said: 'Palestine Action is not a legitimate protest group. ' People engaged in lawful protest don't need weapons. People engaged in lawful protest do not throw smoke bombs and fire pyrotechnics around innocent members of the public. 'And people engaged in lawful protest do not cause millions of pounds of damage to national security infrastructure, including submarines and defence equipment for Nato.' Palestine Action is seeking a legal challenge against the Government's bid to proscribe it, with a hearing expected on Friday to decide whether the ban can be temporarily blocked, pending further proceedings to decide whether a legal challenge can be brought. The Government's move comes after two planes were vandalised at RAF Brize Norton on June 20 in an action claimed by Palestine Action. Five people have since been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence in relation to the incident. Mr Jarvis said the attack at RAF Brize Norton 'was just the latest episode in Palestine Action's long history of harmful activity', adding: 'Palestine Action has orchestrated a nation-wide campaign of property damage featuring attacks that have resulted in serious damage to property and crossed the threshold from direct criminal action into terrorism.' But the minister faced backlash from some MPs who described the move as a 'draconian overreach' and likened the group to the Suffragettes. The United Nations also warned ahead of the vote for the UK not to proscribe Palestine Action, as experts are concerned at the 'unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as 'terrorist'.' Independent MP for Coventry South Zarah Sultana also told the Commons: 'To equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn't just absurd, it is grotesque. 'It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth.' Former soldier Clive Lewis, now the Labour MP for Norwich South, said: 'I understand what terrorism is. I was in London on July 7 in 2007 and I watched my community, this city, attacked by real terrorists. 'And at that point, rightly or wrongly, I decided I was going to Afghanistan to fight the terrorists. 'And I went because I love this country, and I love our democracy, and I want to see it protected. I think today's proscription order against Palestine Action undermines that and I wish my Government wouldn't do it.' A spokesperson for Palestine Action said: 'We are confident that this unlawful order will be overturned. 'As United Nations experts have made clear, spraying red paint and disrupting the British-based operations of Israel's largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, is not terrorism.' Outside of Parliament, four protesters were arrested by the Metropolitan Police following a demonstration to oppose the move to ban Palestine Action. The police had imposed Public Order Act conditions aimed at limiting the protest to Richmond Terrace, off Whitehall. One woman, who identified herself as Emma Kamio to the PA news agency, appeared to use the protest technique known as 'locking on' to cause an obstruction outside of Carriage Gates, one of the entrances to the parliamentary estate. Her daughter Leona Kamio was among a group of pro-Palestine protesters who have appeared in court to deny breaking into the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm with sledgehammers, causing £1 million of damage. Police were seen speaking to Ms Kamio as she sat on the pavement outside Parliament with her arm inside what appeared to be a suitcase. Listing the four arrests, a Met spokesperson said a woman 'who locked herself onto a suitcase outside the gates of Parliament' was among them for 'breaching the conditions and for being in possession of articles intended for locking on'. Among those arrested was also a 'man who blocked the gates of Downing Street with his mobility scooter and refused to move to the conditioned area'. A larger than usual number of officers could be seen in the area around Parliament. The Met said the 'significant policing presence in the vicinity of Parliament' was because of its 'responsibility to take action to prevent serious disruption to the life of the community', including by ensuring MPs 'can go about their business free from intimidation or unreasonable interference'. The legislation approved by MPs also bans two white supremacist groups, Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement, including its paramilitary arm Russian Imperial Legion. The Home Office describes the Maniacs Murder Cult as a neo-Nazi transnational and online organisation which has claimed a number of violent attacks around the world. Russian Imperial Movement is a ethno-nationalist group which aims to create a new Russian Imperial State. Its paramilitary unit fought alongside Russian forces in the invasion of Ukraine to advance its ideological cause. It also runs a paramilitary training programme to support attendees to carry out terror attacks, the Home Office added.
BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
South Shields bus cuts leave elderly 'isolated' and 'neglected'
Cuts to a bus service have left elderly and disabled residents "isolated" and "neglected", according to campaigners. Transport officials have been urged to reverse a decision to reduce services on the Stagecoach 12 route, which runs through parts of South people have been struggling to get to medical appointments or visit family due to the cuts, campaigners said. The bus firm said it was investigating options to increase the frequency of the service but the solution had to be "sustainable". In May, the service was cut from a half-hour service to an hourly service, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. South Tyneside Public Transport Users' Group said some people who used the bus lived on the highest point of South group's chair Nic Cook said: "We refuse to leave residents left isolated, their physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing neglected. "Several residents stated that their families can no longer visit them because they cannot travel there reliably on public transport and cannot afford to pay for taxis to get there." 'Cannot cover cuts' Resident Tom Atkinson, 81, said he had been injured in a fall as he tried to walk up a hill while carrying his shopping after missing the said: "If you miss the 12, then there are five banks you have to walk up - it is a bit too much."Stagecoach said its current hourly service was provided at its "own commercial risk" without support from the North East Combined Authority (NECA) or said it hoped some of the money provided by the government to improve local bus routes could be used to fund the 12 service, which runs from the town centre through Laygate, Harton, and Cleadon official Helen Matthews said government funds were limited and it had to prioritise the money for areas which were at risk of having no bus services at all. She said: "The recent scale of cuts to commercial bus routes and frequencies is greater than our whole publicly funded provision can cover."Labour's North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she felt for the residents of South Shields. "I remain very concerned the operator hasn't properly engaged with passengers - it isn't good enough and needs to change," she said. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Cabinet minister refuses to rule out tax rises after welfare U-turn
A Cabinet minister has refused to rule out tax rises as he said there will be 'financial consequences' from Sir Keir Starmer's welfare U-turn. Pat McFadden also said ministers 'will keep to the tax promises' in the Labour election manifesto. Rachel Reeves has seen the £4.8 billion predicted savings from welfare changes whittled away through the Government's changes to planned welfare reforms to keep backbenchers onside. In a late concession on Tuesday evening, ministers shelved plans to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment, with any changes now only coming after a review of the benefit. Almost 50 Labour MPs revolted despite the concessions. Mr McFadden, The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Times Radio on Wednesday that there will be 'financial consequences' to the decision, and indicated that they would be set out at the budget expected in the autumn. Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Resolution Foundation think tanks warned that Tuesday's concessions meant Ms Reeves could now expect no 'net savings' by 2029/30 – a key year for meeting her fiscal targets. 'So many moving parts' Mr McFadden told BBC Breakfast he is 'not going to speculate' on what could be in the budget, but said that ministers 'will keep to the tax promises' in their manifesto. Asked explicitly whether he could rule out tax rises, the Cabinet minister told the programme: 'I'm not going to speculate on the budget. 'We will keep to the tax promises that we made in our manifesto when we fought the election last year. But it doesn't make sense for me to speculate on something where, as I say, there are so many moving parts of which this is only one element.' Ministers have repeatedly insisted that Labour will not raise taxes on 'working people', specifically income tax, national insurance or VAT. But Ms Reeves also remains committed to her 'ironclad' fiscal rules, which require day-to-day spending to be covered by revenues – not borrowing – in 2029/30. Despite the last-minute concessions, a total of 49 Labour MPs rebelled and voted against the legislation, the largest revolt of Sir Keir's premiership. Overall, the legislation cleared its first parliamentary hurdle by 335 votes to 260, a majority of 75. The changes were announced by minister Sir Stephen Timms to MPs in the Commons, and came after a first round of concessions offered last week did not seem enough to quell the rebellion. Mr McFadden described the wrangling as a 'difficult process', but told Times Radio that the Government 'got to a position where the second reading of the Bill was passed'. Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, had tabled an amendment designed to halt the legislation, which was backed by a total of 44 Labour MPs. Ms Maskell said on Wednesday that the concessions signalled a 'change in power between the Prime Minister' and disabled people. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Tuesday saw 'the Bill disintegrating before our eyes'. Ms Maskell added: 'And I think throughout the day, what we saw was a change in power between the Prime Minister and his Government and disabled people across our country, they having their voice at the heart of Parliament, and that's why I put the reasoned amendment down.' The York Central MP also said that she is 'glad' that the debate was 'had in public' and 'now disabled people should feel empowered to have their voice at long last in an ableist Parliament '.
