Here's why 49 Labour MPs still voted against Starmer's benefits bill: 'It's not the Labour way'

It was a humiliating day in parliament for Keir Starmer’s government. Their welfare bill won the votes of the majority of MPs, but ministers were forced to make last-minute promises to appease opponents and still faced the biggest rebellion seen in their parliament yet.

A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the government on Tuesday (1 July) following a passionate five-hour debate which saw almost every politician who spoke criticise the welfare bill in some regard.

It spooked ministers so much that, midway through the debate, disability minister Stephen Timms took to the stand to say the government would be delaying the most controversial of the plans.

Read more:

• MPs vote to take forward ‘brutal’ cuts to disability benefits: ‘It will come to haunt this government’
• Cuts, universal credit and PIP: Everything you need to know about Labour’s benefits overhaul
• How did Keir Starmer end up in such a mess over benefit cuts?

Timms promised that cuts to personal independence payment (PIP) would only take place after a review of the assessment process, co-produced with disabled people and organisations that support them, had concluded. He said the clause on plans for PIP would be dropped from the bill entirely.

It has not exactly scrapped the cuts to PIP but put them on pause while the review is carried out. The government still intends to make changes, but it is no longer certain those will look like the cuts originally laid out. It had already announced that the changes would not impact current claimants.

So why did 49 Labour MPs still vote against their own party? Firstly, they were voting on the bill in its current form. Ministers promised to remove the cuts to PIP from the bill, but that is yet to be put in writing.

As MP Paula Barker pointed out, “if it’s not written on paper, then it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.” 

Millions of disabled people have faced fear that their benefits would be taken away over the last year, feeling ignored as they pleaded with the government to change its mind. It finally backtracked, but only in speedy U-turns as ministers scrambled to get the bill passed to the next stage in parliament.

Mary Kelly Foy, Labour MP for the City of Durham, said: “This isn’t how we are supposed to make legislation. This passage of this bill is becoming farcical and, as we’ve seen again today, it feels as though it is being butchered and rewritten on the fly.

“We shouldn’t ignore experts, we shouldn’t ignore the lived experiences of our constituents, and we certainly should not expect ministers to continue changing the content of a bill while we are debating it in the chamber.”

Foy said she “bobbed for hours” to have her voice heard and the voices of hundreds of people in her constituency who have raised fears about the welfare cuts.

“People across the country tuned into the debate and witnessed the strength of feeling and anger of MPs across the political spectrum. Ministers need a sense check, and quickly – this bill is so shrouded in controversy now that the only way forward is for it to be pulled, so the government can start again with a bill that is fit for purpose,” Foy added.

“I for one will not ignore the voices of the people who need us the most. I walked into the No lobby and voted against the bill – and I did it proudly, with my conscience intact.”

Even with the PIP cuts removed from the bill, there are still significant cuts to the health element of universal credit. New claimants will receive half the amount from April 2026, while those under the age of 22 who are not already claiming the health element of the benefit will not be eligible at all.

While current claimants will be protected in concessions announced to the bill earlier this week, an estimated 750,000 people are still expected to lose an average of £3,000 a year as a result of these changes.

Imran Hussain, MP for Bradford East, told the Big Issue: “I have always promised my constituents in Bradford East that I will never vote for anything that increases poverty, deprivation or deepen the health inequalities in my constituency. It is the people of Bradford that send me to parliament. I will remain true to them and always make sure their voice is heard.”

Hussain said that the welfare bill will “take away an important lifeline and push many more people in Bradford into poverty”. 

“That’s why I couldn’t vote for it. Let be absolutely clear, this bill is trying to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable people. It’s wrong, it’s unfair and it’s not the Labour way.”

He called on the government to instead raise funds through a 2% wealth tax on the super-rich – “putting the burden on the broadest shoulders while protecting those most in need fairly and justly”. Tax Justice UK estimates that a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million could raise at least £24 billion annually, while affecting just 0.03% of the population.

Brian Leishman, Scottish Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, called the welfare bill “shameful” and said it “should have been rejected with the government going away to consult with disabled people as well as organisations and charities that work on the front lines”.

“I did not come into politics to impoverish some of the most vulnerable people in society, and I did not join the Labour Party to make life even more difficult for the working class. Austerity has already seen the creation of the in-work poor, now we are forcing even more hardship on those who have the least in society,” Leishman said.

“Welfare reform is needed, but we should be creating a caring and compassionate system with true Labour Party values in mind.”

It is unclear how many people will be pushed into poverty as a result of the cuts following the government’s commitment to delay the changes to PIP. If the cuts to PIP went ahead in 2026 as had been planned, government estimates showed that 150,000 people would be pushed into poverty – even with concessions that the changes would only impact new claimants.

Paula Barker told the Big Issue that she voted against the disability benefit cuts “with a heavy heart as nobody becomes an MP to vote against their own party”. But she said her first responsibility is to her constituents and she “can’t in good conscience” vote for a bill that would plunge people into poverty.

“Before entering parliament, I served local government, the trade union movement and working people my entire life. Indeed, I see it as my job to do exactly that as a member of parliament. 

“I am a passionate believer in the dignity of labour, of secure well-paid work being a route out of poverty – towards opportunity and a life free from fear and insecurity. I welcome the aspects of the bill that address that,” she added.

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

Yet Barker pointed out that benefit cuts could have the effect of pushing people out of work. “I have been contacted by several constituents who have told me that losing PIP would result in them not being able to afford to work any longer,” Barker added.

“At a time when three in four people who need to use a food bank live in a disabled household, these cuts will render meaningless our pledges to end the reliance on food banks. This is a bad policy that lacks the moral direction I would expect from a Labour government.”

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the welfare bill is no longer expected to deliver any savings over the next four years. This is because the cuts of £1.7bn to universal credit are offset by the increase to the standard allowance of universal credit – that increase being the reason a number of MPs said they were voting in favour of the bill.

The bill still has to face a third reading and another vote, before moving to the House of Lords to be debated further, meaning there is time for the government to make further changes.

Graeme Downie, Labour MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, voted in favour of the bill but has tabled an amendment to the bill to protect people with fluctuating conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. The government has currently promised to protect people who have severe, lifelong conditions or have less than 12 months to live.

“As a result of the assurances and changes given by ministers to the most immediate concerns raised by my constituents, I felt able this evening to vote for the bill at second reading,” he wrote in an explanation as to why he voted for the bill. “While this vote signals my approval of the general principles of the bill, I believe the proposed legislation is far from perfect.”

Downie said he is “angry with the process by which we have reached this stage. It has made disabled people and those relying on welfare support fearful and angry”. 

“That is not and never will be acceptable to me,” he added. “Senior members of the government must reflect on that and ensure that we rebuild trust with those groups who also want to see the effective reform of a broken welfare system. I do not believe that this process has embodied the Labour values that we were elected on just a year ago.”

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