The same tactics are now being deployed by Labour MPs who claim they have 80 supporters who are apparently willing to stage a revolt against the Government’s planned welfare cuts. They say they will send a letter of complaint to the Treasury and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the spring statement at the end of March.
“I suppose you could put most of what’s left of the campaign group, and then some of the newbies together and get to maybe 30,” a government source said, referring to Labour MPs elected in 2024. “But I don’t know how you get to 80.”
Backbench concerns are being co-ordinated by the Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams, who spent the weekend calling colleagues gauging support. On the other side of the argument is the “Get Britain Working Group” of supportive backbenchers set up by the Hendon MP David Pinto-Duschinsky.
Around 3.2 million people are trapped in a system in which their entire benefits package is at risk of reassessment if they get back to work. The Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to set out plans shortly that will abolish the highest level of disability benefit, under which jobseekers can double their income if they are signed off as unfit.
But there is a wider issue about party management. After a series of controversial decisions on the two-child benefit cap, winter fuel payments, overseas aid and denying compensation for Waspi women, Starmer is facing growing anger from Labour MPs who feel he is taking the party in the wrong direction.
Reeves should think again about changing her fiscal rules to soften the blow on welfare changes, the MP added. “The world has changed, right? Even geopolitically so many things have changed. The economy has changed. Everything has changed. So why can we not rethink our fiscal rules? They’re doing it in Germany. Why can’t we also do the same?” they said.
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Labour MPs are agitated – and benefit cuts have made it worseRead More
Meanwhile, Starmer has sought to buy off any potential rebels by swelling the ranks of his party on the de facto payroll. While his 92 ministers are paid on top of their MP salary and would have to resign to vote against his government, he also has 32 unpaid parliamentary private secretaries who count as part of the administration, alongside 27 so-called mission champions sent out to promote Labour’s priorities and 20 Labour trade envoys.
Starmer appears to be trying to do his best at party outreach, despite concentrating on foreign affairs in the past few weeks. He’s had the whole party in to see him in batches to explain his thinking on a wide range of policies. Addressing the PLP meeting is another way of showing he’s in listening mode. But whether it will have the desired effect is an open question.
As hot tickets go, it doesn’t sound the most fun a Labour MP can have on a Monday evening.
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