MPs vote to take forward 'brutal' cuts to disability benefits: 'It will come to haunt this government'

MPs have voted to push forward with plans for disability benefit cuts despite fierce opposition from their colleagues who argued that the “brutal cuts would push hundreds of thousands of vulnerable, sick and disabled people into poverty”. 

A total of 335 MPs voted in favour of the bill, while 260 voted for the proposals to be dropped. It represents the biggest rebellion yet for Keir Starmer, with 49 Labour MPs opposing the bill.

The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill will now go to the third stage in parliament and face another vote before it moves on to the House of Lords to be debated further.

The vote followed a five-hour debate in parliament, which saw MPs from across parties raising significant concerns about the bill.

It seemed to alarm the Labour government so much it announced further concessions during the debate itself which mean the personal independence payment (PIP) cuts have been delayed.

Read more:

• Absolutely everything you need to know about Labour’s benefits bill, PIP changes and who’s affected
• Thousands of disabled people face ten-month wait for benefits due to DWP backlog
• How did Keir Starmer end up in such a mess over benefit cuts?

The government had already made major concessions to the welfare bill after facing a rebellion from more than 120 Labour MPs.

On Monday (1 July), the government confirmed that cuts will only impact new disability benefit claimants, while current claimants will be protected.

Changes will not come into place until 2026 at the earliest, and the government backtracked on some of its dates during the debate.

PIP cuts will now be shelved until a review into the assessment process is carried out with disabled people and the organisations which represent them.

Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, claimed that “the system we inherited is failing” and “incentivises people to define themselves as incapable of work just to be able to afford to live”.

Even with concessions, many Labour MPs opposed the cuts to disability benefits.

One of the key rebels, Rachel Maskell, who led on an amendment to block the bill, said she could not vote in favour of “brutal” reforms which recent government analysis found could push 150,000 people into poverty.

Maskell described how a constituent, a father of a “gorgeous little girl”, came to her and said he “wouldn’t get through this” when he found out about the cuts.

“He can’t work,” she recalled. “Everything else has been taken from him.”

He now faced losing his benefits. “It was more than he could bear. And then the words came: ‘It would be better if I wasn’t here.'”

This man will be safe from the benefit cuts, Maskell said, but someone who follows will not.

“I will fight for the purpose of politics, for their livelihoods and their lives. It is a matter of deep conscience for me to ensure that these precious people are treated for once with dignity,” she added.

A total of 149 MPs voted in favour of Maskell’s amendment to kill the bill, while 328 opposed it, giving the government a majority of 179.

As a result of the government’s concessions, the cuts will only impact new PIP claimants – this was originally set to come into place in November 2026 but will now only happen after a review of the assessment process has concluded.

The government had hoped to announce changes to the eligibility criteria for PIP, which would mean claimants had to score at least four points in one of the daily living elements to get that part of the benefit.

Around 430,000 people were expected to lose out on thousands of pounds of support, according to forecasts from Trussell. But with the changes to PIP now shelved, it is unclear whether those changes will ultimately happen.

In the debate ahead of the vote, Kendall said: “There is no responsibility in leading our system of social security to continue as it is and risk support for it becoming so frayed that it is no longer there to provide a safety net for those who can never work and who most need our help and support.”

She added that “this government will not duck the big challenges”.

Current claimants of the health element of universal credit will also be protected from changes, as will those who have the most severe, lifelong health conditions.

New claimants, however, will receive half the amount of the health element of universal credit from April 2026 and new claimants under the age of 22 will not be eligible.

An estimated 750,000 people are expected to be impacted by these changes to universal credit.

Steve Darling, Liberal Democrat MP and one of few disabled MPs in parliament, said it is “shameful the way this bill is being dashed through” and “it decreases the credibility of ministers”.

He said the bill will have “unintended consequences that will come to haunt this this government” and raised particular concerns for families who receive carers’ allowance, which is tied to PIP.

“We have grave concerns of the impact this will have on those families, particularly in the future, and they will no longer benefit in carers allowance, which will be robbing those families of around up to £12,000 a year,” Darling said.

He added: “We should not be abandoning some of the most vulnerable in our society.”

The government’s own estimates, ahead of the concession around PIP, suggested that 150,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of the disability benefit cuts.

It had previously forecast that 250,000 people would face poverty if the original plans had gone ahead, but charities argued that as many as 400,000 would be plunged into poverty.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour MP for Salford, said: “The bill as it stands today will worsen this situation, despite concessions and even excluding existing claimants, brutal cuts will still push hundreds of thousands of vulnerable, sick and disabled people into poverty.

“Existing claimants will live in fear that if their situation changes and they are reassessed, they could lose everything under the new system. Disabled children will look to the future with trepidation.”

Almost all MPs who spoke in parliament during the debate opposed the welfare reforms in some regard.

However, some Labour MPs who had previously opposed the disability benefit cuts showed their support for the government following the concessions.

Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Treasury select committee and was a originally a key rebel, said “divided parties don’t hold power” and that claimed that if Labour members want to see their values played out in this country “we need to vote for this today”.

“Major changes were made last week that have significantly altered this bill in a short space of time. I think we bank that and continue to fight with the passion that members have demonstrated today for the rights of disabled people and for all of those that want a job, whether they are disabled or not, and need support to get into work,” Hillier said.

Kendall said the government is bringing forward an additional new £300 million of employment support for sick and disabled people, delivering a total of £600m next year, £800m the year after, and £1 billion in 2028/2029. It will increase the total spending to £3.8bn over the course of this parliament.

However, the full level of employment support will not be available until the end of the decade – by which point cuts will already have been in place for three years.

Emma Lewell, Labour MP for South Shields, said: “The starting point should never be cuts before proper support.”

The government has promised a review of the PIP assessment, led by minister for disability and social security Stephen Timms, which will be “coproduced” with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations.

The Timms review will generate recommendations and proposals for change, for consideration by ministers and parliament. During the debate, Timms announced that there will be no changes to the eligibility criteria to PIP until the review is published.

Conservative MP Stuart Anderson compared the Timms review to “marking your own homework”.

Dr Marie Tidball, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, spoke with emotion as she said: “I am now one of the only visibly disabled members of parliament. I am proud that our manifesto committed to championing the rights of disabled people and the principle of working with disabled people to ensure our views and voices are at the heart of all we do.”

Yet she added: “It is with a heavy, broken heart that I will be voting against this bill today. As a matter of conscience, I need my constituents to know I cannot support the proposed changes to PIP as currently drafted on the face of the bill before us today.”

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