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Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to press ahead with welfare cuts after more than 120 Labour MPs publicly opposed the move, threatening to deal a major blow to the prime minister’s reform programme.
An amendment to block Starmer’s welfare legislation from its first major vote next week has been signed by Labour MPs from across the party, including 11 senior parliamentarians, in a sign of the deep unease over the cuts.
Starmer on Tuesday insisted the issue was not a matter of confidence in his government, telling Sky that it would be a “vote about reforming our welfare system”.
Asked if he would offer concessions to mollify rebellious MPs, he said: “We’re pressing on with a vote on this because we need to bring about reform.”
The large number of Labour MPs willing to back the so-called reasoned amendment puts the government at risk of a defeat on the bill if the opposition parties swing behind the Labour rebels.
Killing the bill would blow a major hole in the government’s budget as the proposed reforms were billed to create savings of about £5bn a year and that money has already been earmarked for spending by ministers.
The opposition Conservative party has supported the idea of welfare cuts, and criticised Starmer for not going further.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden on Tuesday said the second reading of the welfare reform bill would go ahead as planned next week, as he warned MPs that voting against the government would be a “serious thing”.
“It’s not just a few colleagues, but it’s a very serious thing to vote against a government bill at second reading,” he told ITV. “You’re right to point out that this phrase ‘reasoned amendment’ isn’t just a small tweak, it would stop the legislative process if it succeeded.”
McFadden said ministers would continue to engage with MPs ahead of the second reading, but confirmed the vote would go ahead next week because “there is no escaping the need for reform”.
The amendment was tabled by 11 Labour chairs of Commons select committees, including Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury committee.
It states the welfare bill should not have its second reading in the Commons because its provisions have not been the subject of a public consultation with disabled people.
The amendment also opposes the second reading on the grounds the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK fiscal watchdog, has not published an analysis about the employment impact of the reform, and because the government’s own estimates suggest the measure will push 250,000 people into poverty, including about 50,000 children.
Hillier said: “We don’t want to defeat the government but we want the government to think again. We are being asked to vote before consultation with disabled people and before impact assessments.”
The rebel MPs are hoping that by threatening to block the passage of Starmer’s welfare reform bill through parliament, ministers will overhaul the measure in ways that they would find acceptable.
Starmer is seeking to push through a major overhaul of the welfare system to reduce government spending and help mend the public finances.
Changes proposed in the welfare bill would result in about 800,000 fewer people being entitled to disability benefits, many of whom need help washing themselves or using the toilet.
Starmer has prioritised investment in the NHS as well as big increases in defence spending, as he aims to fend off a growing threat from Nigel Farage’s rightwing populist Reform UK party.
The prime minister has rowed back on his unpopular decision to take winter fuel payments away from about 10mn pensioners, and has signalled to allies that he is keen to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which is a significant contributor to child poverty.
But on Monday chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted there would be “no U-turn” on the welfare bill, telling reporters “there needs to be reform”.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told MPs at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour party that “there is no route to social justice based on greater benefit spending alone”, saying the government’s reform plans “are rooted in fairness”.
Some Labour MPs raised concerns about the reform, but others spoke up in favour of the government’s plans, according to people present at the meeting on Monday.
One MP opposed to the welfare bill said it was “awful watching your party making such a grave mistake”.
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