Keir Starmer admits to distractions amid benefits U-turn
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken out on his U-turn of disability benefit cuts after facing threats of a backbench rebellion.
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Sir Keir has spoken to The Times about his recent government climbdown on welfare reforms on Friday, admitting to various "distractions" during a week marked by Labour’s controversial U-turn.
Concessions were made to the disability cuts policy after attempts to phone around rebel MPs failed, with the PM facing the very real prospect of a rebellion.
Speaking to Josh Glancy of The Times, Sir Keir said, "as context rather than excuse", he "was heavily focused on what was happening with Nato and the Middle East all weekend".
He also said he took ownership for his decisions and believed as leader he should “carry the can” when things do not go well.
The PM also referred to anonymous briefings that have targeted blame for the U-turn at Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's chief of staff.
He said: "I take responsibility for all the decisions made by this government.
"I do not talk about staff and I’d much prefer it if everybody else didn’t.”
He also emphasised focus on Nato ongoings, implying impacts of this on the 'humiliating' climbdown.
“I turned my attention fully to it [the welfare bill] when I got back from Nato on Wednesday night," he said. "Obviously in the course of the early part of this week we were busy trying to make sure Nato was a success."
He added: “From the moment I got back from the G7, I went straight into a Cobra meeting."
Sir Keir also said it wasn't until Thursday that his "full attention really bore down on this", with proceedings moving "relatively quickly" from there.
Speaking further on the benefits cuts, he added he would have liked to get a "better position" on the matter with a "constructive package".
He said: “If somebody makes powerful representations, then my instinct is to consider what’s being said.
"Getting it right is more important than ploughing on with a package which doesn’t necessarily achieve the desired outcome.”
Ministers had hoped the reforms would get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year, but the concessions may leave Chancellor Rachel Reeves needing to find money elsewhere and point to possible tax rises in the autumn.
On Saturday, the PM told the Welsh Labour conference the “broken” welfare system must be fixed “in a Labour way”.
He said: “We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won’t, but we also can’t let it become a snare for those who can and want to work.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch will hit out at Sir Keir as “incapable of sticking to a decision” after he backed down on his plans.
The reforms would only have made “modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill”, but the Prime Minister was “too weak to hold the line”, the Conservative Party leader is expected to say in a speech next week.
The Government’s original welfare package had restricted eligibility for Pip, the main disability payment in England, as well as cutting the health-related element of universal credit.
Existing recipients were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition.
Now, the changes to Pip will be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only, while all existing recipients of the health element of universal credit will have their incomes protected in real terms.
The concessions on Pip alone protect some 370,000 people currently receiving the allowance who were set to lose out following reassessment.
As a year in office nears, more than half of voters think Labour has underperformed in that time, polling released on Saturday showed.
The Opinium survey showed 54% think Labour has done a worse job than expected, while 18% think the party has exceeded expectations.