Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to take on Labour rebels and insisted he would go ahead with a vote on hated cuts to disability benefits next week – even though he risks suffering a humiliating defeat. More than 120 Labour MPs are opposing plans to strip 800,000 people of eligibility for Personal Independence Payments, which are paid to help disabled people with living expenses.
But asked whether he would back down, Sir Keir said: “We have got to make the reforms to our system. It isn’t working as it is. It doesn’t work as it stands for people who desperately need help to get into work or for people who need protection. It is broken. We were elected in to change that which is broken, and that’s what we will do, and that’s why we will press ahead with reforms.”
And he responded directly to speculation that he could even be forced to resign, saying he was “very confident” he would be leading the Labour Party.
Sir Keir said: “I’m very confident. We were elected in absolutely clearly saying we needed 10 years of national renewal. A decade of national renewal was what we were elected into with a huge majority.
“It is really important that I lead from the front and take the long-term decisions about the future of our country, and that is why we’ve made these defence commitments.
“We are living in a more volatile world. I think everybody in the country accepts that.
“We’ve had to rise to that challenge, and it is right that we set it out over a number of years so we get the trajectory right and the balance right, and that’s what we’e doing.
“That’s what I’m committed to doing. That’s what I’m committed to seeing through, because that is the fundamental duty of the Prime Minister.”
New rules making it harder to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which helps disabled people with living costs, will save the Treasury £4.1 billion a year but mean 800,000 people lose an average of £4,500 annually. The Government’s own analysis shows there will be an extra 250,000 people in poverty, including 50,00 children, as a result of benefit changes already announced.
In addition, changes to Universal Credit are expected to see an estimated 2.25 million current recipients of the health element impacted, with an average loss of £500 per year.
Labour rebels have signed an amendment opposing the changes, and there are enough of them to defeat the Government in a vote planned on July 1 if opposition MPs vote with them. Cabinet Ministers and Labour whips are attempting to convince rebels to back down.
