Tag Archives: welfare cuts

Exclusive: Labour MP Calls For Welfare Bill To Be Slashed By £20 Billion

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Labour should slash the welfare bill by £20 billion in an attempt to balance the nation’s books, according to one of its influential MPs.

Chris Curtis, who is co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, said the current rate of spending on benefits was “unsustainable” and that the government’s previous attempts to cut the bill by £5 billion had not been ambitious enough.

His comments, on the Politics Inside Out podcast, come ahead of next week’s Budget, in which Rachel Reeves is set to increase taxes as she seeks to fill a £20 billion hole in the Treasury’s finances.

At the last Budget a year ago, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that total government spending on health and disability benefits would rise from £64.7 billion in 2023-24 to £100.7bn in 2029-30.

It is understood that the government has shelved plans to bring down the welfare bill after a backbench Labour rebellion forced ministers to ditch reforms which would have reduced it by £5bn.

But Curtis, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said his party must go much further or else the entire welfare system could collapse.

He said: “We need to be perfectly honest, particularly in the Labor Party. The trajectory of welfare spending cannot and must not continue in the direction it’s currently heading.

“That is unsustainable and in a few years time will be questioning whether the welfare state can continue to exist.”

Curtis said the government’s previous plans “weren’t trying to be ambitious enough”.

“It felt like it was a quite a short-term plan because of a financial hole, to find a quick way of saving £5bn. My view is we should be looking at, potentially over a slightly longer time period, to be saving £20bn, given how big the welfare bill is.

“And that means lots in order to help people with disabilities getting back into work, ensuring that all of the incentives are in the right place, because the incentives are all over the place at the moment.

“At some point, it also means saying to people that unless they go out there and do the right thing, they’re not going to be able to live off the state.”

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MPs Have Passed Labour’s Welfare Bill – But There Is Trouble Ahead For Keir Starmer

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Keir Starmer spent this afternoon in his happy place, rubbing shoulders with Emmanuel Macron and playing the global statesman.

The pair held talks in 10 Downing Street as the French president’s three-day state visit to the UK continued.

Among the topics discussed were how both governments can work together to end the small boats crisis, support Ukraine and increase bilateral trade and investment.

Starmer positively beamed as he stood on the steps of No.10 alongside Macron and the pair’s wives.

However, the PM was brought back to earth with a thump later in the day.

Although MPs comfortably passed the government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill by 336 votes to 242, dozens of Labour backbenchers thumbed their nose at the prime minister.

Some 47 voted against the legislation, with a further 14 abstaining.

That is despite Starmer making a series of concessions which mean the bill itself bears little resemblance to what it did originally.

Plans to make it harder to claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP) have been kicked into the long grass, a move which removed almost all of the £5 billion of savings the bill was meant to deliver.

Nevertheless, Labour rebels remain unhappy at cuts to the health element of universal credit – and were willing to defy their leader and the party whips in order to register their unhappiness.

Keir Starmer and wife Victoria welcome French president Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte to 10 Downing Street.
Keir Starmer and wife Victoria welcome French president Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte to 10 Downing Street.

via Associated Press

And while Starmer’s 165-seat Commons majority meant he ultimately prevailed on this occasion, that may not always be the case.

The rebels have set their sights on the removal of the two-child benefit cap, while government plans to slash the amount of money spent on helping children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) will also be hugely controversial.

A No.10 insider admitted to HuffPost UK that “the handling of the welfare stuff was bad”, but insisted lessons would be learned for future votes.

But he added: “In reality, we don’t have a majority of 165. We’re never going to win over the socialist campaign group who just don’t like Keir, and those sitting on very small majorities are difficult to whip as well.

“But there will be others among the welfare rebels who we can get back on board with a decent handling plan.”

After just a year as PM, Keir Starmer already finds himself at odds with a significant chunk of his own MPs.

The bad news for him is that things are unlikely to get any easier from now on.

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Keir Starmer Hit By Major Labour Rebellion As MPs Back His Welfare Bill

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Keir Starmer has suffered a major rebellion by Labour MPs against welfare cuts which are set to push 150,000 people into poverty.

In a major blow to the prime minister’s authority, dozens of his own backbenchers voted against the PM’s flagship Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.

However, a last-minute climbdown by the PM on a key plank of the legislation was enough to ensure it passed by 335 votes to 260.

A total of 48 Labour MPs voted against the bill, with around 30 abstaining.

But the result was completely overshadowed by Starmer’s latest U-turn, which came less than two hours after the Commons vote took place.

The government’s initial plan had been to cut the health element of universal credit and make it harder for disabled people to claim personal independence payments (PIP) in a bid to save £5 billion from the welfare bill.

More than 120 Labour MPs backed an amendment which would have killed off the changes, forcing the prime minister to announce last week that current recipients of the benefits would not lose out.

Despite the climbdown, senior figures including Labour mayors Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan said Starmer’s concessions did not go far enough.

In a further climbdown as MPs debated the bill this afternoon, disability minister Stephen Timms told MPs announced there will be no changes to PIP rules at all until after he has finished a review of the whole system.

Given that disability groups are feeding into the review, it means the most contentious part of the reforms are now unlikely to ahead.

Timms told MPs the government had listened to the “concerns” of Labour MPs and that his review would be completed by autumn next year.

The climbdown is also a humiliation for work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, who had earlier told MPs that the changes to PIP would definitely be going ahead.

One Labour MP told HuffPost UK the situation was “a fucking farce”.

In a further headache for the government, the latest climbdown means the £5 billion of savings the reforms were supposed to raise has almost been completely wiped out.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will now have to find the money to plug that black hole in her budget, as well as the £1.5bn cost of Starmer’s U-turn on winter fuel payments last month.

Posting on X, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “This is an utter capitulation. Labour’s welfare bill is now a TOTAL waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does NOT control spending. It’s pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern.”

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Keir Starmer In 11th-Hour Welfare Cuts Climbdown In Bid To Avoid Commons Defeat

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Keir Starmer has killed off a major plank of Labour’s flagship welfare reforms as the government desperately tries to avoid an embarrassing Commons defeat.

The prime minister caved in to another key demand from rebel Labour MPs just 90 minutes before the crunch vote was due to take place.

It came amid government fears that previous concessions to the rebels would not be enough to guarantee parliament would back the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill.

Thanks to the last-minute climbdown, MPs backed the legislation by 335 to 260.

The initial plan had been to cut the health element of universal credit and make it harder for disabled people to claim PIP in a bid to save £5 billion from the welfare bill.

More than 120 Labour MPs backed an amendment which would have killed off the changes, forcing the prime minister to announce that current recipients of the benefits would not lose out.

In a further climbdown just 90 minutes before the Commons vote, disability minister Stephen Timms told MPs announced there will be no changes to PIP rules at all until after he has finished a review of the whole system.

Given that disability groups are feeding into the review, it means the most contentious part of the reforms are now unlikely to ahead.

Timms told MPs the government had listened to the “concerns” of Labour MPs and that his review would be completed by autumn next year.

The climbdown is also a humiliation for work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, who had earlier told MPs that the changes to PIP would definitely be going ahead.

One Labour MP told HuffPost UK the situation was “a fucking farce”.

In a further headache for the government, the latest climbdown means the £5 billion of savings the reforms were supposed to raise has almost been completely wiped out.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will now have to find the money to plug that black hole in her budget, as well as the £1.5bn cost of Starmer’s U-turn on winter fuel payments last month.

Posting on X, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “This is an utter capitulation. Labour’s welfare bill is now a TOTAL waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does NOT control spending. It’s pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern.”

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This is an utter capitulation. Labour’s welfare bill is now a TOTAL waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does NOT control spending.

It’s pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern. https://t.co/fJJ78lPkX0

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 1, 2025

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Starmer cannot govern. https://t.co/fJJ78lPkX0— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 1, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Kemi Badenoch on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1940093351195250703","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"68640873e4b0aa65edbb4759","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keir-starmer-in-fresh-welfare-climbdown-in-bid-to-avoid-commons-defeat_uk_68640873e4b0aa65edbb4759","entryTagsList":"labour-party,keir-starmer,welfare-cuts,@ai_seo_headline","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":4},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"68640873e4b0aa65edbb4759","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"labour party","slug":"labour-party","links":{"relativeLink":"news/labour-party","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Labour Party","slug":"labour-party","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party/"},{"name":"keir starmer","slug":"keir-starmer","links":{"relativeLink":"news/keir-starmer","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer/"},{"name":"welfare cuts","slug":"welfare-cuts","links":{"relativeLink":"news/welfare-cuts","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/welfare-cuts","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/welfare-cuts"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/welfare-cuts/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","enableIncontentPlayer":false,"bodyAds":["

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This is an utter capitulation. Labour’s welfare bill is now a TOTAL waste of time. It effectively saves £0, helps no one into work, and does NOT control spending.

It’s pointless. They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern. https://t.co/fJJ78lPkX0

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 1, 2025

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “The government should stop tying themselves in endless knots and put this bill out of its misery.

“This has been a mess from start to finish and it’s clear that this legislation is not fit for purpose. Ministers are asking MPs to vote on a bill on which the ink hasn’t dried before it is blotted out once again.

“The government needs to go back to the drawing board and pull this bill.”

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