Starmer clamps down on Labour welfare rebels
Sir Keir Starmer is set to clamp down on Labour rebels by forcing them to show up to next week's vote on benefit cuts.
Backbenchers opposed to the Government's sweeping welfare reforms said their permission to be absent from Parliament on July 1 has now been withdrawn.
More than 100 Labour MPs are understood to be prepared to revolt over the Prime Minister's plans to bring down the benefits bill by £4.3 billion.
The plans mean that only the most disabled adults could claim Personal Independence Payments, while about 250,000 people are projected to be pushed into poverty.
When a Commons rebellion is deemed likely, MPs are often 'slipped' – granted permission by their party whips not to attend – to ensure they do not vote legislation down.
But it is understood that the Government has taken the opposite approach and expects Labour MPs to show up and support the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
The Government's working majority in the Commons is 165, meaning that 83 MPs would need to oppose the cuts to force a parliamentary defeat.
One MP planned to attend an event at a school in their constituency on Jul 1 until they were informed they would no longer be able to do so.
'They have cancelled everyone's slips that day,' they said. 'I was meant to be at a thing at my local primary school.
'When I found out that was when the vote was going to be, I thought maybe I would vote against the Bill at its third reading rather than its second.
'But then they cancelled my slip and I thought, okay, that has made my decision for me.'
The MP accused Downing Street of 'very bad management' and claimed its approach would backfire by increasing the size of the revolt.
'Everyone I speak to, it's not whether they're going to support it, it's whether they're going to abstain or vote against,' they added.
'It's the same with winter fuel and grooming gangs – it's another hill we're being marched up. There's a repeated theme of a bunker mentality in No 10 and thinking they know best.'
A second MP was going to be on an overseas trip at the start of July, which has now been cancelled altogether on account of the vote.
'We had visas, we had flights, we had everything booked and we had to cancel it,' they said.
'Fundamental concerns not addressed'
After weeks of reflecting on the issue, the MP said they had told their whip last week they could not vote for the Bill and added that the same was true of many of their colleagues.
'At the moment, I can't see them getting it through in its current room. I'm not interested in trying to cause trouble.
'But they need to change the details of the Bill. It's slightly different to the green paper, but the fundamental concerns that people have had haven't really been addressed.
'There's some positive stuff and some positive intentions, but the cliff-edge that this creates is just too sharp.'
More Government frontbenchers are said to be on 'resignation watch' over the cuts after Vicky Foxcroft quit as a whip last week.
In a letter to Sir Keir, Ms Foxcroft, a former shadow minister for disabled people, said she could not support 'reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances'.
One rebel said there were 'clearly people on resignation watch', but another downplayed the prospect of further resignations before MPs had tried to extract more concessions.
Last week, Sir Keir held a number of one-to-one meetings with those poised to vote against the cuts.
The meetings, which were first reported by Sky News, came days after a drop-in event for concerned MPs with Claire Reynolds, Sir Keir's political director in Downing Street.
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has also held a number of meetings with backbenchers in recent weeks aimed at easing their concerns over the Bill.
Ms Kendall believes that she has a strong argument to make and that at the heart of the reforms is a push to get long-term sick and disabled people back into work where possible.
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