Kemi Badenoch has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to rule out new tax rises in return for Conservative support to slash Britain’s welfare bill. The Tory leader’s offer of help comes as more than 100 Labour MPs threaten to wreck Sir Keir’s plans to limit access to disability support.
MPs are due to vote next week to restrict eligibility to limit eligibility Personal Independence Payments and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit. But 108 Labour MPs have signed an amendment which could derail the proposed changes.
The Conservatives say they will back the Bill if the Prime Minister commits to “bring down [the] welfare budget, get people back to work, and promises no new tax rises”.
Mrs Badenoch insists the present plans do not go far enough.
She said: “The Government is in a mess; their MPs are in open rebellion. If Keir Starmer wants our support, he needs to meet three conditions that align with our core Conservative principles.
“The first condition is that the welfare budget is too high, it needs to come down. This bill does not do that.
“The second condition is that we need to get people back into work. Unemployment is rising, jobs are disappearing, and even the Government’s own impact assessments say that the package in this bill will not get people back to work.
“The third is that we want to see no new tax rises in the autumn. We can’t have new tax rises to pay for the increases in welfare and other Government spending.
“We are acting in the national interest to make the changes the country needs. And if Keir Starmer wants us to help him get this Bill through, then he must commit to these three conditions at the dispatch box.”
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister was asked if was happy to rely on Conservative help to get the controversial legislation through the House of Commons.
Sir Keir said: “I have no idea what the Conservatives will do. I don’t think they’ve got the first idea what they’re doing.
“So I intend to press ahead as a Labour government with our reforms.”