Sir Keir Starmer could face a no-confidence vote if his upcoming welfare Bill is rejected by Parliament, a former work and pensions secretary has warned. MPs were reportedly told their rebellion could provoke a fresh leadership challenge less than one year since Labour came to power.
Cabinet ministers have been asking Labour MPs to take their names off a rebel amendment to the Government’s controversial welfare Bill. Lord Blunkett told LBC’s Andrew Marr: “If they lost it, they’d have to go for a vote of confidence, I think.
“But the embarrassment of that one year in, the difficulty of that leaves you with two problems.
“One is you’ve been humiliated and the second is you’ve still got the problem. You know, the welfare issue has not gone away, so solving the problem, not taking the hit, is the sensible solution.”
Ministers are discussing the prospect of further concessions to win over Labour MPs preparing to rebel over plans to cut disability benefits, the Deputy Prime Minister has suggested.
Angela Rayner insisted the Government was not expecting backbenchers to go against traditional party values amid a looming revolt over the welfare Bill set for a Commons vote next week.
Some 120 Labour MPs have put their names to a bid to block the legislation in its tracks, arguing that disabled people have not been properly consulted about the plans and further scrutiny is required before making any changes.
Asked what concessions could be offered to convince rebels to back the Bill, Ms Rayner said “discussions are ongoing”.
“I’m not going to get into that on your show tonight,” she said in an interview on ITV’s Peston programme.
“Those discussions are ongoing around making sure that the welfare reforms that we’re bringing in support people into work who need that, and we’re putting a huge amount of investment into doing that, but also protecting the most vulnerable.”
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill faces its first Commons test on Tuesday.
The plans restrict eligibility for PIP, the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit, with the aim of getting more people back into work and saving up to £5billion a year.
Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition.