Latest news with #welfareCuts
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour whip quits over Starmer's welfare cuts
A Labour whip has quit over the Government's welfare cuts. Vicky Foxcroft said in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer that she could not support 'reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances '. Her resignation followed the biggest rebellion against Sir Keir's premiership to date with more than 150 Labour MPs signing a private letter indicating opposition to the welfare cuts. However, the Prime Minister vowed at the weekend to face down the rebels, insisting the reforms must be pushed through. A package of £5 billion in annual savings from the disability and sickness benefits bill was unveiled earlier this year, including cuts to the personal independence payment . Legislation unveiling the specifics of the changes is expected to be published this week before a crunch vote at some point before Parliament breaks for summer recess next month.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Government whip Vicky Foxcroft quits over disability benefit cuts
Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft has resigned as a whip over the government's plans to cut disability a letter to the prime minister, Foxcroft said she understood the need to address "the ever-increasing welfare bill" but said cuts to personal independence payments and universal credit should "not be part of the solution". She said she had "wrestled with whether I should resign or remain in the government and fight for changes from within".She added: "Sadly it now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see." This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ministers step up efforts to quell growing rebellion over UK welfare bill
The government is intensifying efforts to quell a growing rebellion over welfare cuts, with whips stepping up contact with MPs and strategists drawing up plans for a mini-reshuffle in case of resignations. Ministers are taking a carrot-and-stick approach by laying out extra support for people who face losing their benefits, while also warning mutinous MPs of the consequences of voting against the plans. Several MPs said that whips were strengthening efforts to bring them into line after Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, sought to ease concerns by promising extra protections for vulnerable people. Some MPs say there have been suggestions that the vote on cuts could be treated as a confidence issue, with those rebelling facing suspension from the whip or even deselection. No 10 and government sources strongly denied this. A senior government source said plans were being drawn up for new ministerial appointments, in case any frontbenchers resign to vote. No 10 is said to be keen on rewarding new MPs who have made an impression since the general election a year ago. The government plans to introduce a bill next week that will contain its welfare reforms – including controversial cuts to disability benefits. Government figures say that concessions by Kendall this week have won over some would-be rebels. The Guardian reported Kendall would put 'non-negotiable' protections for the most vulnerable benefits recipients in the legislation. Under the changes, people with less than 12 months to live and those with lifelong conditions would automatically get a higher rate of universal credit and would be exempt from reassessments, which usually take place every three years. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people who will no longer qualify for personal independence payments (Pip) under the reforms will continue to receive payments for 13 weeks, instead of the usual four. But some MPs are unmoved by the changes. One senior Labour backbencher said: 'This so-called olive branch is completely meaningless and won't have persuaded a single Labour MP, many of whom are really concerned for the impact on disabled people in their constituencies. These reforms were rushed through with no proper impact assessment and the government has to go back to the drawing board.' The government's proposed cuts to Pip, a benefit which is intended to help disabled people with their quality of life and is not connected to employment, have sparked uproar in the Labour parliamentary party. About 170 Labour MPs are said to have communicated their concerns to the government. Government sources say the number of prospective rebels has fallen as a result of Kendall's concessions, along with ministers signalling an openness to scrapping the two-child benefit cap and the Conservatives' decision to vote against the reforms. Under the proposed reforms, claimants would not qualify for Pip unless they score a minimum of four points on a single daily living activity. Assessments score from 0 to 12 the difficulty that claimants face in a range of living activities such as preparing and eating food, communicating, washing and getting dressed. More than 370,000 people stand to lose their payments, while another 430,000 who would have qualified would no longer be eligible. On average these people will lose £4,500 a year. The government has argued the welfare system needs dramatic reform, with 1,000 new people a day making claims. Even with the cuts, Pip payments will continue to rise, with an extra 750,000 people receiving payments by the end of this parliament.
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Brits back cuts to foreign aid, benefits and Net Zero to fund the NHS and police - amid fears Rachel Reeves is plotting tax hikes instead
Brits back cuts to foreign aid, benefits and Net Zero to bolster spending in other areas, according to a poll. YouGov research has given an insight into the public's priorities as Rachel Reeves prepares to unveil departmental budgets for the next three years. Fears are mounting that the Chancellor will have to impose more tax hikes later in the year, as the stalling economy and demands for more defence cash squeeze the government finances. According to the survey, foreign aid was the most popular target for cuts - despite having already been slashed by billions of pounds to bolster defence. Some 65 per cent endorsed trimming the development budget, including a majority of supporters of all major parties. More welfare cuts were the preference of 41 per cent, although 18 per cent wanted higher spending, The Times reported. Despite a brewing revolt by Labour MPs, even among the party's voters 31 per cent were behind trimming benefits costs. Just over a fifth supported higher spending and 40 per cent said the level was about right. Curbing spend on Net Zero was backed by 40 per cent, but 30 per cent said those budgets should be maintained and 20 per cent said they should be higher. Ms Reeves is due to lay out departmental allocations running up to 2029 - the likely timetable for the next general election - on Wednesday. But the generous fiscal envelope set at the Budget last Autumn has been put under massive pressure by the economic slowdown, calls for more defence cash, and Labour revolts on benefits. Ms Reeves has been signalled she will announce real-terms increases to budgets for police as she tries to quell Home Office resistance. However, that is likely to be offset by cuts to other areas, with the NHS and defence sucking up funding.
The Independent
08-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Starmer's welfare cuts will see 340,000 more people in poverty than previously predicted, charity warns
The impacts of the government's welfare cuts are likely to push tens of thousands more people into poverty than previously predicted, a major foodbank charity has warned. Trussell said 340,000 more people in disabled households could face hunger and hardship by the end of the decade. It comes as more than 150 Labour MPs expressed concern over the plans last month, which include a tightening of the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (Pip) – the main disability benefit in England – and cutting the sickness-related element of universal credit (UC). The proposals also include delaying access to the health element of UC to those aged 22 and over, with the aim of reinvesting savings to support young people into work or training. The package of measures is aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, and the government hopes they can save £5bn a year by the end of the decade. But it is understood that the plans sparked growing upset among both parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) and even government ministers, who were said to be considering quitting if the government failed to water down its proposals. A government impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – across England, Scotland and Wales could fall into relative poverty after housing costs as a result of the changes. But Trussell said the impact is likely to be worse, with its report, based on analysis it commissioned by public policy experts WPI Economics, claiming that overall some 440,000 people in disabled households will be forced into severe hardship and at risk of needing a food bank in 2029/30, if the reforms go ahead. A planned rise in the basic rate UC in 2029 should lift around 95,000 people out of severe hardship, Trussell said, leaving the total number affected closer to the 340,000 figure – once rounding of numbers and any movement of the poverty line in future years is accounted for. Trussell said its report's calculations are based on the Social Metrics Commission's definition of severe hardship as being when people are more than 25 per cent below the poverty line, saying this captures both people who are likely to need to turn to a food bank now and those at high risk of needing support from one in future. Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said the calculations they have come to present a worse picture than previously thought, 'because we have looked at how many people are going to be pulled, not just into overall poverty but into the severest form of hardship'. She added: 'That's important because the lower your income, the worse your hardship, the more damage it does. So the more likely you are to not be able to afford essentials like food, the worse the impact on your health, on your prospects. 'So the amount of damage that's being done is even worse than the Government's impact assessment suggested.' She said while Trussell supports the government's aim to reform employment support and help more people into work, 'these proposed cuts will utterly undermine this goal', adding: 'Slashing support will damage people's health and reduce their ability to engage in training and work.' The Joseph Rowntree Foundation backed Trussell's calls for the government to rethink the disability benefit cuts, saying: 'This analysis shows they are likely to create more deep poverty and hardship than even the bleak forecast from the Government's own limited assessments.' Trussell is also calling on the government to bring forward the planned increase to the basic rate of Universal Credit so it comes into full effect from April 2026, instead of waiting until April 2029. It comes after more than 100 MPs – understood to comprise primarily those who won their seats for the first time in 2024 – last month signed a letter to the chief whip warning that they are unable to support the proposals in their current form. It is understood that a separate letter signed by around 40 MPs was sent to Sir Keir just days earlier, warning against proceeding with the changes in their full form. A government spokesperson said: 'This government is determined to change people's lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years. 'We will never compromise on protecting people who need our support, and our reforms will mean the social security system will always be there for those who will never be able to work, and that their income is protected.'
