Welfare bill passes by majority of 75 as massive climbdown heads off Labour revolt – as it happened
The bill has passed by 335 votes to 260 – a majority of 75.Summary of eventsMPs voted through the government’s welfare bill by 335 votes to 260 - a majority of 75 – after a rebel amendment to kill off the bill was defeated easily after concessions over planned Pip cuts (See 19.27).The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, ruled out resigning in her interview with Chris Mason, the BBC political editor, saying she wanted to carry on despite her bill only passing after multiple U-turns (See 19.51).
After a week of chaos that left the prime minister’s political authority badly damaged, Labour MPs were finally won over by a commitment to shelve plans for deep cuts to personal independence payments (Pip)We are closing this blog now.Thank you for readingChanges to the universal credit and Pip bill mean no savings for the chancellor in this parliament, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).Helen Miller, the deputy director of IFS, said there is a “pronounced rise” in working-age health-related benefits.Spending is rising from £52bn last year and, without reform, is forecast to reach £66bn by 2029–30.The government’s original reform was set to save £5.
5bn in the short run (by 2029–30) and double that in the long run when fully rolled out.Without reform to personal independence payment, the watered down bill is not expected to deliver any savings over the next four years.This is because over this period the forecast savings from reducing the universal credit (UC) health element for new claimants (£1.7bn in 2029–30) will be roughly offset by the cost of increasing the UC standard allowance.This is a government with a majority of 165 that is seemingly unable to reform either pensioner winter fuel payments or working-age disability benefits.
That doesn’t bode well for those hoping this government will grasp the nettle and address the deeper, structural challenges facing the UK public finances.Scotland’s social justice secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, has said the UK government risks creating a “deeply unfair” two-tier system if it presses ahead with plans to push the impact of cuts on to future applicants for disability benefits and that it should abandon the bill completely.Somerville confirmed that her government had no plans to row back support for disabled people in Scotland.The UK government needs to stop balancing the books on the backs of some of the most vulnerable people in society.They need to properly listen to the overwhelming criticism their proposals have generated and do the right thing by disabled people by abandoning this bill entirely.
I want to reassure disabled people in Scotland, that the Scottish government will not cut Scotland’s adult disability payment – we will not let disabled people down as the UK government has done,Originally, 150,000 unpaid carers stood to lose carer’s allowance at a budget reduction of £500m by 2030, according to the charity Carers UK,Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, welcomed the concessions regarding Pip,Unpaid carers will be hugely relieved that the government has recognised the harmful impact the proposed changes to Pip could have on whole families,Legislating for a system that would be under review would have been entirely in the wrong order.
These proposals have caused untold stress and worry for many thousands of carers.It’s the right decision to ensure that the Timms review of Pip is concluded and that the implications for unpaid carers are known before the government takes any further steps.The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has offered his reaction to the passing of a much changed bill.Speaking on GB News he said that the government is “in big trouble” and suggested Keir Starmer is a “puppet”.U-turn after U-turn after U-turn, denial of what he said in the speech on immigration, ‘oh, I regret it, I regret it, I hadn’t read it’, a self-admission that he’s a puppet.
Today, to avoid potentially a massive defeat in the House of Commons, a watering down of a bill that renders it almost meaningless,I’m looking at the big picture,This government is in big trouble,We voted against it, because I won’t lift a finger to help a government that is doing so much damage to our country,Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, says the concession announced today means that in the medium term – the relevant period for the chancellor’s fiscal rules – the welfare reforms will now save more or less no money at all.
But that does not mean they are totally pointless, she says on Bluesky.The latest u-turn looks to be removing all PIP changes from the bill.Remaining net savings in the crucial year for fiscal rules of...
,about zero,Doesn’t mean the bill is nothing though: still very important changes to, and a sensible rebalancing of, universal credit (with savings in future years)That is all from me for tonight,Morgan Ofori is now taking over,Groups representing the disabled have mixed views on what happened this evening.
While Mencap issued a statement welcoming the dropping of the Pip elements of the bill (see 6,43pm), other charities highlight their concerns about what is left in the bill,Charlotte Gill, head of campaigns and public affairs at the MS Society, said:The government has been forced to listen to disabled people at the eleventh hour,And that’s thanks to people with MS who have sent thousands of emails, made hundreds of phone calls, and had countless conversations with MPs to make their voices heard,While we’re relieved that the government are dropping some of their most catastrophic plans for PIP, and committing to a review before any changes go ahead, we still believe this bill risks causing harm to disabled people.
Pushing through cuts to those on Universal Credit who are unable to work is unfair and cruel.And James Taylor, executive director at disability equality charity Scope, said:It’s right to consult and engage with disabled people before making sweeping changes to Pip.Changes that would have made hundreds of thousands of claimants worse off.Changes that could have been avoided altogether.We now need cast-iron confirmation that future reforms will be genuinely co-produced with disabled people, as promised.
However, this bill still includes measures that will strip thousands of pounds in support from disabled people.Our analysis shows disabled households will face almost £15,000 a year in extra costs by 2030.Under these changes, more than 700,000 future universal credit health claimants would receive on average £3,000 less support each year than claimants do now.Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, issued this statement after the welfare bill passed tonight.He said:This is no way to run a country.
The government should scrap this failed bill altogether and work cross-party to actually bring down the welfare bill by getting people into work.There were 42 Labour MPs who voted for the Maskell amendments.But two Labour MPs acted as tellers in the division for the ayes – Clive Lewis and Andy McDonald – and they are not included in the 42, although they were helping them.They both voted against the bill too.Other Labour MPs who did not vote for the Maskell amendment but who did vote against the bill getting a second reading include Rosena Allin-Khan, Marsha de Cordova, Abtisam Mohamed and Marie Tidball.
The division lists are here.Q: But what is left in the bill?Kendall claimed there were some “really important changes” to universal credit left in the bill.And the right to try changes were important, she said.Q: But you made an argument that current welfare spending was unsustainable – and now you’re not going to save any money?Kendall claimed the measures in the bill would still help to get more people into work, saving the government money.Q: Haven’t you found out that, even with a whopping majorty, Labour is fundamentally unwilling to reform the welfare state? Your plans are in the skip.
They’re dead, they’re buried.Kendall said reform was important, and Labour was starting to deliver change.Q: How do you assess the PM’s authority?Kendall said people are “100% behind a prime minister who secured the first Labour government in 14 years”.But there are lessons to learn, she said.Q: What is the key lesson to learn? This has been an unedifying week for the government.
Kendall said welfare reform was always difficult, perhaps particularly for Labour governments,She said it had been “a bumpy time tonight”, but the party would go forward together,Chris Mason opened his interview by putting it to Liz Kendall that this process had been shambolic,Kendall replied:I wish we had got to this point in a different way, and there are absolutely lessons to learn, but I think it’s really important we’ve passed this bill for second reading,It puts in place some really important reforms to the welfare system.
Q: Is your position tenable? You’ve been humiliated.Kendall replied:I think listening is actually a strength in politics, as indeed it is in life, and I’ll continue to listen to colleagues, absolutely.What was very interesting was how much support there was for the principle of reforming the welfare state, that those who can work should work, but need help to do so, and that we need to protect those who can’t work.
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