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The Independent
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Who are the 47 Labour MPs who rebelled in the welfare reforms vote?
Almost 50 Labour MPs have rebelled against the Government over its welfare reforms after warnings the legislation 'remains a danger to disabled people'. Mother of the House Diane Abbott, former minister Dawn Butler, and former shadow minister Andy McDonald were among the 47 Labour MPs who voted against the welfare Bill at third reading. The reforms passed with MPs voting 336 votes to 242, majority 94. The Government had watered down its welfare plans last week by removing the personal independence payment (Pip) part of the Bill in a bid to appease angry backbenchers. Despite this, a number of Labour MPs remained unhappy with the now-called Universal Credit Bill. Speaking in the Commons, Neil Duncan-Jordan, the Poole MP, said the Government's earlier concessions were not enough 'because this Bill still contains a proposal to cut £2 billion from the universal credit health element for over 750,000 future claims'. Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, said 'these changes do not alleviate all of my concerns', adding: 'One in three disabled people are already in poverty. 'This Bill, even after the Government's amendment, would take around £3,000 a year from the disabled people of the future.' Kim Johnson argued the Bill 'remains a danger to disabled people', adding: 'It's not just a bad policy, it's economically reckless, because when you take away essential support you don't reduce costs, you shift those costs on to the NHS, on to local authorities and on to unpaid carers and on to working class communities.' The Liverpool Riverside MP said she 'will not stand by while this Government has stripped away dignity, security and hope for the people I represent'. Mr McDonald described the situation as a 'shambles', adding: 'Now is the moment to stop the cuts, and I implore the Government to rethink this Bill.' The Middlesbrough and Thornaby East MP said the welfare Bill would 'discourage' people from taking an opportunity to try and work. 'A Government that claims to care about fairness cannot proceed like this,' he added. Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, also urged the Government to 'pull this Bill', adding: 'Let's get it right for the people who really matter. Let's get it right for disabled people.' Cat Eccles, who spoke of her own experience of the system after she 'almost lost my life, followed by a total mental breakdown', also criticised the legislation. The Stourbridge MP said: 'I didn't come here to make people worse off, and that's why I still cannot support this Bill.' Stella Creasy tabled an amendment which would have required the Secretary of State to have due regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Walthamstow MP said her new clause four would aim to 'ensure that people can live a life of freedom equally alongside us as our fellow human beings' and that 'disabled people in our communities can meet their living expenses'. Here is a full list of Labour MPs who voted against the Bill at third reading: Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting), Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree), Lee Barron (Corby and East Northamptonshire), Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood), Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam), Chris Bloore (Redditch), Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East), Dawn Butler (Brent East), Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran), Stella Creasy (Walthamstow), Marsha De Cordova (Battersea), Peter Dowd (Bootle), Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole), Cat Eccles (Stourbridge), Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham), Barry Gardiner (Brent West), Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith), Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend), Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire), Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside), Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington), Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth), Emma Lewell (South Shields), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East), Navendu Mishra (Stockport), Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central), Grahame Morris (Easington), Margaret Mullane (Dagenham and Rainham), Simon Opher (Stroud), Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East), Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill), Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston), Euan Stainbank (Falkirk), Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South), Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth), Derek Twigg (Widnes and Halewood), Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East), Mohammad Yasin (Bedford).
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who are the 47 Labour MPs who rebelled in the welfare reforms vote?
Almost 50 Labour MPs have rebelled against the Government over its welfare reforms after warnings the legislation 'remains a danger to disabled people'. Mother of the House Diane Abbott, former minister Dawn Butler, and former shadow minister Andy McDonald were among the 47 Labour MPs who voted against the welfare Bill at third reading. The reforms passed with MPs voting 336 votes to 242, majority 94. The Government had watered down its welfare plans last week by removing the personal independence payment (Pip) part of the Bill in a bid to appease angry backbenchers. Despite this, a number of Labour MPs remained unhappy with the now-called Universal Credit Bill. Speaking in the Commons, Neil Duncan-Jordan, the Poole MP, said the Government's earlier concessions were not enough 'because this Bill still contains a proposal to cut £2 billion from the universal credit health element for over 750,000 future claims'. Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, said 'these changes do not alleviate all of my concerns', adding: 'One in three disabled people are already in poverty. 'This Bill, even after the Government's amendment, would take around £3,000 a year from the disabled people of the future.' Kim Johnson argued the Bill 'remains a danger to disabled people', adding: 'It's not just a bad policy, it's economically reckless, because when you take away essential support you don't reduce costs, you shift those costs on to the NHS, on to local authorities and on to unpaid carers and on to working class communities.' The Liverpool Riverside MP said she 'will not stand by while this Government has stripped away dignity, security and hope for the people I represent'. Mr McDonald described the situation as a 'shambles', adding: 'Now is the moment to stop the cuts, and I implore the Government to rethink this Bill.' The Middlesbrough and Thornaby East MP said the welfare Bill would 'discourage' people from taking an opportunity to try and work. 'A Government that claims to care about fairness cannot proceed like this,' he added. Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, also urged the Government to 'pull this Bill', adding: 'Let's get it right for the people who really matter. Let's get it right for disabled people.' Cat Eccles, who spoke of her own experience of the system after she 'almost lost my life, followed by a total mental breakdown', also criticised the legislation. The Stourbridge MP said: 'I didn't come here to make people worse off, and that's why I still cannot support this Bill.' Stella Creasy tabled an amendment which would have required the Secretary of State to have due regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Walthamstow MP said her new clause four would aim to 'ensure that people can live a life of freedom equally alongside us as our fellow human beings' and that 'disabled people in our communities can meet their living expenses'. Here is a full list of Labour MPs who voted against the Bill at third reading: Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting), Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree), Lee Barron (Corby and East Northamptonshire), Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood), Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam), Chris Bloore (Redditch), Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East), Dawn Butler (Brent East), Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran), Stella Creasy (Walthamstow), Marsha De Cordova (Battersea), Peter Dowd (Bootle), Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole), Cat Eccles (Stourbridge), Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham), Barry Gardiner (Brent West), Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith), Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend), Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire), Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside), Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington), Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth), Emma Lewell (South Shields), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East), Navendu Mishra (Stockport), Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central), Grahame Morris (Easington), Margaret Mullane (Dagenham and Rainham), Simon Opher (Stroud), Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East), Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill), Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston), Euan Stainbank (Falkirk), Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South), Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth), Derek Twigg (Widnes and Halewood), Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East), Mohammad Yasin (Bedford).
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Welfare reforms risk leaving stain on Labour, MP warns
A Labour MP who led a rebellion against the Government's benefits plan has labelled it an 'omnishambles', which she warned could leave disabled people worse off. Rachael Maskell said pressing ahead with the welfare reform Bill risked leaving 'such a stain' on her party, as she urged ministers to scrap a proposed change to the out-of-work element of universal credit. Ministers have proposed increasing the universal credit standard allowance at least in line with inflation until 2029/30. But the Government has proposed freezing the 'limited capability for work' (LCW) part of the benefit until 2030, and new claimants who sign up for the 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' payment will receive a lower rate than existing claimants after April 2026, unless they meet a set of severe conditions criteria or are terminally ill. Commons Work and Pensions Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams urged the Government to push back its reforms until November 2026. 'This is to allow for the NHS capacity to ramp up and to ensure funding follows health need, so that people with newly required conditions or impairments can receive early treatment and a better aligned labour market that will enable them to return to work quickly,' the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth told the Commons. 'Without this, there is the risk that 45,000 more newly disabled people and their children will be pushed into poverty.' Ms Abrahams described her pitch as a 'reasonable compromise', costing £141 million in lost savings. Ms Maskell tried to block the Bill's progression at second reading last week using a reasoned amendment, which failed by 149 votes to 328, majority 179. Around 90 minutes before that vote, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms promised in an intervention to halt a proposed reform to the separate personal independence payment (Pip) benefit, with any changes now only coming in after a review. 'The cart before the horse, the vote before the review, and this omnishambles of a Bill, these people with fluctuating conditions not knowing where they stand, and for that, nor where any of us stand by the end of today,' Ms Maskell said on Wednesday. The York Central MP had earlier said: 'No matter what spin, to pass the Bill tonight, this will leave such a stain on our great party, founded on values of equality and justice.' She urged MPs to gut the Bill of plans to roll out a lower rate of out-of-work benefit for new claimants from 2026 and freeze the LCW component. 'Their contention is my contention – sick and disabled people have not been consulted,' Ms Maskell added. She has proposed that current out-of-work benefits claimants should not be put on the proposed lower rate of out-of-work benefit, if they slip out of and then back into the eligibility criteria either side of the changes. 'If someone has a fluctuating physical or mental health condition like multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, cystic fibrosis, or other recurring muscular-skeletal condition, if following a period of remission and work then relapse and returning to universal credit, unless unequivocally stated, they will return onto the pittance of £50-a-week for their health element,' she said. Sir Stephen intervened and asked her to acknowledge 'how the Bill protects people in exactly the situation that she describes', where claimants are prone to seasonal conditions such as chest infections over the winter. If a pre-2026 claimant slips out of being eligible for universal credit but meets the eligibility criteria again within six months, the Bill would demand that they be considered 'continuously entitled to an award'. It would mean that they could go 'straight back onto the position they are in at the start', the minister added. Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge Marie Tidball urged the Government to properly work with disabled people in the Pip review, known as the Timms review. Ms Tidball, a disabled MP who tabled a cross-party amendment on the Timms review, said: 'While the minister will head up this review, the voices of disabled people must be front and centre. 'The measures in this new clause emphasise the need for disabled people and disabled people's organisations to make up the majority of the taskforce, and to have a significant role in the leadership of the review, and I believe carers could be a part of that.' She said any recommendations must be debated in the Commons before implementation. She said: 'Output of this review must also be meaningful and not performative.' Independent MP Zarah Sultana, who quit Labour last week, spoke in the Commons for the first time since her decision, where she hit out at the Government. The MP for Coventry South MP said: 'The truth is this – Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper. This is a Government, not out of touch, but also morally bankrupt. It works for billionaires and big business while turning its back on disabled people.'
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Welfare reforms risk leaving stain on Labour, MP warns
A Labour MP who led a rebellion against the Government's benefits plan has labelled it an 'omnishambles', which she warned could leave disabled people worse off. Rachael Maskell said pressing ahead with the welfare reform Bill risked leaving 'such a stain' on her party, as she urged ministers to scrap a proposed change to the out-of-work element of universal credit. Ministers have proposed increasing the universal credit standard allowance at least in line with inflation until 2029/30. But the Government has proposed freezing the 'limited capability for work' (LCW) part of the benefit until 2030, and new claimants who sign up for the 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' payment will receive a lower rate than existing claimants after April 2026, unless they meet a set of severe conditions criteria or are terminally ill. Commons Work and Pensions Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams urged the Government to push back its reforms until November 2026. 'This is to allow for the NHS capacity to ramp up and to ensure funding follows health need, so that people with newly required conditions or impairments can receive early treatment and a better aligned labour market that will enable them to return to work quickly,' the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth told the Commons. 'Without this, there is the risk that 45,000 more newly disabled people and their children will be pushed into poverty.' Ms Abrahams described her pitch as a 'reasonable compromise', costing £141 million in lost savings. Ms Maskell tried to block the Bill's progression at second reading last week using a reasoned amendment, which failed by 149 votes to 328, majority 179. Around 90 minutes before that vote, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms promised in an intervention to halt a proposed reform to the separate personal independence payment (Pip) benefit, with any changes now only coming in after a review. 'The cart before the horse, the vote before the review, and this omnishambles of a Bill, these people with fluctuating conditions not knowing where they stand, and for that, nor where any of us stand by the end of today,' Ms Maskell said on Wednesday. The York Central MP had earlier said: 'No matter what spin, to pass the Bill tonight, this will leave such a stain on our great party, founded on values of equality and justice.' She urged MPs to gut the Bill of plans to roll out a lower rate of out-of-work benefit for new claimants from 2026 and freeze the LCW component. 'Their contention is my contention – sick and disabled people have not been consulted,' Ms Maskell added. I voted against the UC&PIP Bill. It's now due back for next stage in Parliament. My next Amendment 👇would safeguard those with fluctuating conditions, or a recurrence of a condition from being placed onto a lower rate of universal credit#York #UC #PIP — 💙Rachael Maskell MP (@RachaelMaskell) July 9, 2025 She has proposed that current out-of-work benefits claimants should not be put on the proposed lower rate of out-of-work benefit, if they slip out of and then back into the eligibility criteria either side of the changes. 'If someone has a fluctuating physical or mental health condition like multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, cystic fibrosis, or other recurring muscular-skeletal condition, if following a period of remission and work then relapse and returning to universal credit, unless unequivocally stated, they will return onto the pittance of £50-a-week for their health element,' she said. Sir Stephen intervened and asked her to acknowledge 'how the Bill protects people in exactly the situation that she describes', where claimants are prone to seasonal conditions such as chest infections over the winter. If a pre-2026 claimant slips out of being eligible for universal credit but meets the eligibility criteria again within six months, the Bill would demand that they have been 'continuously entitled to an award'. It would mean that they could go 'straight back onto the position they are in at the start', the minister added. Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Sian Berry has proposed increasing the standard allowance beyond inflation by 4.8% from April 2026. Currently, the Bill would set the uplift at 2.3% in 2026/27, rising to 4.8% by 2029/30. Ms Berry said this could be paid through a wealth tax, and added her change would go 'some way' to set universal credit according to 'an objective assessment of what people need'.
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UN panel outs UK government on the spot over welfare bill
The UN organisation for disabled people's rights has asked the UK government for details about the impact of its welfare bill, expressing its concerns about the potential adverse effects. In a rare intervention, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities asked about the legislation after receiving 'credible information' that it seemed likely to worsen the rights of disabled people. The central element of the bill – changes to personal independence payments – were removed last week to ward off a potential defeat by Labour rebels. A total 49 Labour MPs still voted against the revised legislation amid continued worries about other changes including to universal credit, the main means-tested benefit for people of working age. Labour backbenchers tabled a series of amendments before its return to the Commons on Wednesday for its remaining stages in the lower house. A letter from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of the committee, said it 'respectfully requests information' about the bill, and in particular the extent of any impact assessment. It also sought information on 'any measures to address the foreseeable risk of increasing poverty rates amongst persons with disabilities if cuts are approved'. According to an impact assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions released on Monday, the revised bill will mean 50,000 fewer people are in relative poverty after housing costs in 2030. An assessment of the original plans found the measures would have pushed an additional 250,000 people into poverty, with some charities saying this figure would have been higher. The letter also requests information on the extent of consultation with disabled people and charities ahead of the bill being presented, and whether the House of Lords would be able to give only 'limited scrutiny' if, as expected, it is designated as a money bill, limiting the upper house's powers. The UN committee called for scrutiny of politicians and others in the UK 'portraying persons with disabilities as making profit of social benefits, making false statements to get social and disability benefits or being a burden to society'. Pointing to previous UN reports criticising the UK for its record over the rights of disabled people, the committee said it had 'received credible information indicating that, if approved, the universal credit and personal independent payment bill will deepen the signs of regression' found in earlier reports. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The letter ends by asking UK authorities to respond by 11 August, so the reply can be considered by the committee's formal session next month. The Department for Work and Pensions, which is responsible for the bill, was contacted for comment.
