Starmer gives in to Labour rebels on welfare reforms in benefits climbdown

The Prime Minister made a slew of concessions overnight after attempts to phone around rebel MPs failed, with the PM facing the very real prospect of a rebellion.

It comes as more than 120 Labour MPs opposing his government's welfare reforms, as they readied themselves to vote against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill.

The climbdown follows attempts by Labour to pass the bill in a bid to help shave around £5bn off the welfare budget by 2030.

While Sir Keir has insisted these are "progressive" as the current system is "broken", on Thursday, it emerged the Government was willing to make massive changes to the reforms in a bid to win over rebel MPs.

One concession would include dropping the planned changes to personal independence payments (PIP).

Read more: Keir Starmer is trapped between Mr Rock and Mr Hard Place on welfare cuts, writes Andrew Marr

Read more: Keir Starmer will face vote of no confidence if MPs reject benefits bill, Lord Blunkett tells LBC

This would protect some 370,000 existing claimants who were expected to lose out following reassessment.

A Downing Street spokesperson told LBC: “We have listened to MPs who support the principle of reform but are worried about the pace of change for those already supported by the system.

“This package will preserve the social security system for those who need it by putting it on a sustainable footing, provide dignity for those unable to work, supports those who can and reduce anxiety for those currently in the system.

“Our reforms are underpinned by Labour values and our determination to deliver the change the country voted for last year.”

In a letter to MPs, the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall added: “We recognise the proposed changes have been a source of uncertainty and anxiety.

“We will ensure that all of those currently receiving PIP will stay within the current system. The new eligibility requirements will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only.

“Secondly, we will adjust the pathway of Universal Credit payment rates to make sure all existing recipients of the UC health element – and any new claimant meeting the severe conditions criteria – have their incomes fully protected in real terms.”

She said a ministerial review would ensure the benefit is “fair and fit for the future” and will be a “coproduction” with disabled people, organisations which represent them and MPs.“These important reforms are rooted in Labour values, and we want to get them right,” she said.

Despite the u-turn, the changes are not good enough for some rebel MPs.

Left-wing MP Richard Burgon said: "These changes may make a very bad bill less awful, but the vast majority of cuts remain and it still forces hundreds of thousands into poverty".

"Nowhere near good enough," he added in a social media post.

"I'll vote against the bill. The government shouldn't be balancing the books on the backs of disabled people."

The Tories described the concessions understood to have been offered to Labour rebels over the party’s welfare reforms as “the latest in a growing list of screeching U-turns” from the Government.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: “This is the latest in a growing list of screeching u-turns from this weak Labour Government.

“Under pressure from his own MPs Starmer has made another completely unfunded spending commitment.

“Labour’s welfare chaos will cost hardworking taxpayers.

“Keir Starmer’s inability to get welfare spending under control will see families up and down the country slapped with even higher taxes to pay for it.

“We can’t afford Labour.”

Earlier on Thursday, the PM insisted he was willing to negotiate with rebel MPs in a bid to get the bill through Parliament.

He said in a statement: "On social security, I recognise there is a consensus across the house on the urgent need for reform of our welfare system, because the British people deserve protection and dignity when they are unable to work, and support into work when they can.

"At the moment, they are failed every single day by the broken system created by the Conservatives, which achieves neither.

"I know colleagues across the house are eager to start fixing that, and so am I, and that all colleagues want to get this right, and so do I.

"We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness. That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday."

Under the government's current proposals, ministers will limit eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit (UC).

Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes.

The government has argued the changes will save £5bn a year by 2030.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said talks between backbenchers and the Government were “ongoing” as six more Labour MPs added their names to the rebel amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks.

The reasoned amendment argues that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed.

The new signatories include the Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee chairman Toby Perkins, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, Newcastle upon Tyne MP Mary Glindon and Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards.

North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell and Colchester MP Pam Cox, both of whom won their seats in the party’s 2024 landslide election victory, have also added their names.

The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126.

The fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to the “reasoned amendment” calling for a change of course shows how entrenched the opposition remains.

One backbencher preparing to vote against the Bill told the PA news agency: “A lot of people have been saying they’re upset about this for months.

“To leave it until a few days before the vote, it’s not a very good way of running the country.

“It’s not very grown-up.”

They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: “I don’t think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.”

On Wednesday, Former work and pensions secretary Lord David Blunkett told LBC a failed vote could see the end of the Prime Minister, just 12 months into his time in Downing Street.

Lord Blunkett told LBC’s Andrew Marr: "If they lost it, they'd have to go for a vote of confidence, I think.“But the embarrassment of that one year in, the difficulty of that leaves you with two problems.

“One is you've been humiliated and the second is you've still got the problem. You know, the welfare issue has not gone away, so solving the problem, not taking the hit, is the sensible solution.”

LBC has approached the Cabinet Office for comment.