Benefits bill in a 'better place' after Labour U-turn, Streeting tells LBC as he admits 'concerns' over welfare reforms
The Health Secretary has told LBC Labour’s upcoming benefits bill is in a “better place” after a series of changes were made to appease rebel MPs.
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The Prime Minister made a slew of concessions to rebel MPs last week in a bid to get his Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill through its first round of voting.
Speaking to LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Government is right to admit when it is wrong and revealed he had “concerns” over the bill before last week’s changes were made.
Some 126 Labour backbenchers had signed an amendment that would have halted the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in its tracks when it faced its first Commons hurdle on July 1.
The list of Labour MPs putting their name to the amendment had been growing throughout the week, leading to a late-night U-turn by the PM.
Walking back on the bill’s planned cuts to PIP, the PM announced those currently receiving the benefit would continue to do so after the bill was passed.
“In government, we're going to make mistakes and when we do, it's really important that you accept you made a mistake, put it right and learn from it,” Mr Streeting told LBC.
“That's exactly what we've done this week on welfare. As the Prime Minister said himself in an interview today, we wish we'd arrived at this position sooner, but are we in a better place today than we were this time last week.
“They've got peace of mind (benefit claimants) of knowing that their situation, their PIP, isn't going to change
“And we're also going to work with disabled people and disability organisations in terms of the longer-term reform.”
He added: "I'm happier this week than I was last week. I think the bill is genuinely in a better place than it was before. And I have seen this week the way that ministers and backbench Labour MPs have worked together to get us to that place."
Mr Streeting’s comments come after Sir Keir Starmer admitted he has been “distracted” at times during his first year in Downing Street.
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.
“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.”