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Welfare reforms 'will hang like a millstone around the necks' of MPs who vote for it or abstain, Labour MP tells LBC
19 June 2025, 01:51 | Updated: 19 June 2025, 07:04
The government is ‘making the same mistake’ as it did with the winter fuel payment but on a larger scale in putting through their welfare reforms, Richard Burgon told LBC.
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The warning comes amid a backlash from some Labour MPs, among them Richard Burgon, who have criticised the “awful” cuts to welfare – which the Government hopes can save up to £5 billion a year.
The planned reforms, which are supposed to bring more people into work while cutting welfare by £5 billion, have incited a rebellion among Labour MPs.
Richard Burgon is one of the 50 backbenchers rebelling over the proposed cuts. He told LBC’s Andrew Marr: “We can't, as a Labour government, balance the books on the backs of disabled people.
“And that's what the government is trying to do. They're trying to save money by taking personal independence payments off disabled people. They should have listened to the backbenchers. We shouldn't have got this far.
“And they're going to end up in a real mess because so many Labour colleagues think this isn't what a Labour government should do. Labour governments are meant to lift people out of poverty, not plunge people into poverty.”
Among the most significant moves in the bill is the tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip), a benefit aimed at helping those with disability or long-term illness with increased living costs.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to be affected by the changes to Pip eligibility, which are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings the Government hopes to make.
In what could be seen as an attempt to head off some opposition, the legislation – known as the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill – will give existing claimants a 13-week period of financial support.
The Department for Work and Pensions said this will apply to those affected by changes to the Pip daily living component, including those who lose their eligibility to Carers Allowance and the carer’s element of UC.
Earlier on Wednesday, the government announced some changes to the bill, but Mr Burgon, the MP for Leeds East, doesn’t believe these are enough.
“Apart from the extension of the time someone is still getting PIP after they've been told they'll be losing it, all the other so-called concessions were already in the green paper,” he told LBC’s Andrew Marr.
“The reality is the government hasn't listened. They've closed their ears on this and they're making exactly the same mistake, but on a bigger scale than they did with the winter fuel payment cuts. And look at what a mess that ended up being.
“Labour MP after Labour MP has pleaded with the Secretary of State, pleaded with the Prime Minister to think again. And then this bill lands on our desk today which confirms our worst fears that it's a bill that's going to be taking money off people who are disabled and going to be plunging hundreds of thousands of more disabled people into poverty. The government should have listened, but they're ploughing on.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said he was “determined” to ensure the reforms go through because he feels the welfare system “doesn’t work for anyone”.
Despite the massive rebellion he might be facing, the Prime Minister said the system “doesn’t work for those that want to get back to work, and it certainly doesn’t work for the taxpayer.”
Asked if the government will be able to push the bill through, Mr Burgon said he and his colleagues continue to ask the government to ‘think again’.
“Even a few weeks ago, 100 colleagues had put their name to expressing severe concerns about this measure and asking the government to think again,” he told LBC’s Andrew Marr.
“And that's before we've reached this point where the bill's published and where disabled people and constituents are pleading with their MPs to vote against this.
“If the government presses on, this will hang like a millstone around the necks, not just of the Labour government, but every single Labour MP who either votes for it or sits on their hands and abstains.”
The latest data, published on Tuesday, showed that more than 3.7 million people in England and Wales are claiming Pip, with teenagers and young adults making up a growing proportion.
The figures, published by the Department for Work and Pensions, showed there were a record 3.74 million people in England and Wales claiming Pip as of April this year.
The figure is up from 3.69 million in January and a jump of 200,000 from 3.54 million a year earlier.
Data for Pip claimants begins in January 2019, when the number stood at 2.05 million.
Pip is a benefit aimed at helping with extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability and difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition.
An impact assessment published alongside Wednesday’s Bill introduction, confirmed previously published estimates that changes to Pip entitlement rules could see about 800,000 people lose out, with an average loss of £4,500 per year.
Ms Kendall previously said there are 1,000 new Pip awards every day – “the equivalent of adding a city the size of Leicester every single year”.
250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, are likely to fall into relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/2030, although the Government repeated that this does not take into account the potentially positive impact of £1 billion annual funding by then for measures to support people into work.
Changes to UC are expected to see an estimated 2.25 million current recipients of the health element impacted, with an average loss of £500 per year.
But the Government said around 3.9 million households not on the UC health element are expected to have an average annual gain of £265 from the increase in the standard UC allowance.
