Welfare bill passes by majority of 75 as massive climbdown heads off Labour revolt – UK politics live | Politics
MPs vote through welfare bill by 335 votes to 260 – majority of 75
The bill has passed by 335 votes to 260 – a majority of 75.
Key events
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Charities says disabled people will still lose out from welfare bill, despite Pip reform U-turn
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Kendall claims Labour MPs ‘100% behind prime minister’
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‘Listening is strength in politics’ – Kendall brushes off claims multiple welfare bill U-turns have made her position untenable
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Kendall rules out resigning after her bill only passes following multiple U-turns branded shambolic
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49 Labour MPs voted against welfare bill at second reading, division list shows
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MPs vote through welfare bill by 335 votes to 260 – majority of 75
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42 Labour MPs voted for Maskell amendment to kill off welfare bill, division list shows
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Starmer easily wins first vote on welfare bill with 179 majority, as massive climbdown heads off Labour revolt
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Timms declines to guarantee future Pip changes will be in primary legislation so MPs can amend them
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Timms says his review of Pip assessment ‘not intended to save money’
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Timms winds up debate for government
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Welfare bill has now ‘more or less disintegrated’ after U-turn, say Tories
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How four-point Pip eligibility rule was central to Treasury’s plan to save money from welfare changes
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Badenoch says Starmer’s latest welfare U-turn is ‘utter capitulation’, leaving bill that’s ‘pointless’
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Labour MPs say welfare bill now ‘complete mess’, and restate calls for it to be withdrawn
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How latest concession means government left with welfare bill that won’t affect Pip eligibility
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No 10 guts welfare bill in big new concession as minister says Pip cuts planned for 2026 shelved until after Timms review
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Starmer set to offer Labour MPs further welfare bill concession
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Ex-whip Vicky Foxcroft welcomes concessions, but says Timms review must report before Pip changes rolled out
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No 10 refuses to rule out further concessions on welfare bill
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Meg Hillier urges Labour MPs to ‘bank’ concessions, back government and continue to fight for disabled people
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Tories criticise Reform UK for voting against welfare bill – even though they are voting against it too
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Ministers said to be close to offering further concession to Labour rebels, with crunch vote due in just over 3 hours
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Labour’s Rebecca Long-Bailey says there are ‘endless’ alternative ways of raising money, such as wealth tax
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Lib Dems claim two-tier welfare ‘unBritish’, and it’s ‘Orwellian’ for some disabled people to be ‘more equal than others’
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‘I cannot cross by on the other side’ – Rachael Maskell says she can’t ignore what ‘Dickensian’ cuts will do for disabled
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Badenoch says welfare bill is ‘rushed attempt to plug chancellor’s fiscal hole’
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Kendall says, when Timms review Pip rules kick in, claimants can seek reassessment if they think that would help
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Kendall confirms existing Pip claimants will be reassessed under current rules, even after November 2026
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Kendall says Pip claimants with fluctuating conditions could be treated as being so disabled they can never return to work
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Kendall says government will publish updated impact assessments, showing positive effect of employment schemes
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Liz Kendall opens debate on UC and Pip bill
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Speaker confirms that MPs will get vote on rebel Labour amendment intended to kill off bill
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Starmer defends government’s record at cabinet
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What happens next to UC and Pip bill if it passes tonight?
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Voters opposed to welfare cuts, but more split on whether disability benefits should cover mental health conditions, poll suggests
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Reeves insists government committed to cutting number of sick and disabled people in poverty
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Will welfare bill go through? Pippa Crerar on latest state of play
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Will Starmer’s rebellion over plans to cut sickness benefit match what happened when Blair tried the same in 1999?
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Ministers launch review of UK parental leave and pay to ‘reset system’
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Leading Labour rebel backs welfare bill amid sustained defiance
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Text of Rachael Maskell’s reasoned amendment backed by rebel Labour MPs to kill off welfare bill
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Starmer risks defeat on welfare bill as 39 Labour MPs sign up to kill it off, with ‘loads more’ set to join them, rebel says
The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has offered his reaction to the passing of a much changed bill. Speaking on GB News he said that the government is “in big trouble” and suggested Keir Starmer is a “puppet”.
U-turn after U-turn after U-turn, denial of what he said in the speech on immigration, ‘oh, I regret it, I regret it, I hadn’t read it’, a self-admission that he’s a puppet.
Today, to avoid potentially a massive defeat in the House of Commons, a watering down of a bill that renders it almost meaningless. I’m looking at the big picture. This government is in big trouble.
We voted against it, because I won’t lift a finger to help a government that is doing so much damage to our country.
Andrew Sparrow
Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, says the concession announced today means that in the medium term – the relevant period for the chancellor’s fiscal rules – the welfare reforms will now save more or less no money at all. But that does not mean they are totally pointless, she says on Bluesky.
The latest u-turn looks to be removing all PIP changes from the bill. Remaining net savings in the crucial year for fiscal rules of….about zero. Doesn’t mean the bill is nothing though: still very important changes to, and a sensible rebalancing of, universal credit (with savings in future years)
That is all from me for tonight. Morgan Ofori is now taking over.
Charities says disabled people will still lose out from welfare bill, despite Pip reform U-turn
Groups representing the disabled have mixed views on what happened this evening. While Mencap issued a statement welcoming the dropping of the Pip elements of the bill (see 6.43pm), other charities highlight their concerns about what is left in the bill.
Charlotte Gill, head of campaigns and public affairs at the MS Society, said:
The government has been forced to listen to disabled people at the eleventh hour. And that’s thanks to people with MS who have sent thousands of emails, made hundreds of phone calls, and had countless conversations with MPs to make their voices heard.
While we’re relieved that the government are dropping some of their most catastrophic plans for PIP, and committing to a review before any changes go ahead, we still believe this bill risks causing harm to disabled people.
Pushing through cuts to those on Universal Credit who are unable to work is unfair and cruel.
And James Taylor, executive director at disability equality charity Scope, said:
It’s right to consult and engage with disabled people before making sweeping changes to Pip. Changes that would have made hundreds of thousands of claimants worse off. Changes that could have been avoided altogether.
We now need cast-iron confirmation that future reforms will be genuinely co-produced with disabled people, as promised.
However, this bill still includes measures that will strip thousands of pounds in support from disabled people.
Our analysis shows disabled households will face almost £15,000 a year in extra costs by 2030. Under these changes, more than 700,000 future universal credit health claimants would receive on average £3,000 less support each year than claimants do now.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, issued this statement after the welfare bill passed tonight. He said:
This is no way to run a country.
The government should scrap this failed bill altogether and work cross-party to actually bring down the welfare bill by getting people into work.
There were 42 Labour MPs who voted for the Maskell amendments. But two Labour MPs acted as tellers in the division for the ayes – Clive Lewis and Andy McDonald – and they are not included in the 42, although they were helping them. They both voted against the bill too.
Other Labour MPs who did not vote for the Maskell amendment but who did vote against the bill getting a second reading include Rosena Allin-Khan, Marsha de Cordova, Abtisam Mohamed and Marie Tidball.
The division lists are here.
Kendall claims Labour MPs ‘100% behind prime minister’
Q: But what is left in the bill?
Kendall claimed there were some “really important changes” to universal credit left in the bill. And the right to try changes were important, she said.
Q: But you made an argument that current welfare spending was unsustainable – and now you’re not going to save any money?
Kendall claimed the measures in the bill would still help to get more people into work, saving the government money.
Q: Haven’t you found out that, even with a whopping majorty, Labour is fundamentally unwilling to reform the welfare state? Your plans are in the skip. They’re dead, they’re buried.
Kendall said reform was important, and Labour was starting to deliver change.
Q: How do you assess the PM’s authority?
Kendall said people are “100% behind a prime minister who secured the first Labour government in 14 years”.
But there are lessons to learn, she said.
Q: What is the key lesson to learn? This has been an unedifying week for the government.
Kendall said welfare reform was always difficult, perhaps particularly for Labour governments.
She said it had been “a bumpy time tonight”, but the party would go forward together.
‘Listening is strength in politics’ – Kendall brushes off claims multiple welfare bill U-turns have made her position untenable
Chris Mason opened his interview by putting it to Liz Kendall that this process had been shambolic.
Kendall replied:
I wish we had got to this point in a different way, and there are absolutely lessons to learn, but I think it’s really important we’ve passed this bill for second reading. It puts in place some really important reforms to the welfare system.
Q: Is your position tenable? You’ve been humiliated.
Kendall replied:
I think listening is actually a strength in politics, as indeed it is in life, and I’ll continue to listen to colleagues, absolutely.
What was very interesting was how much support there was for the principle of reforming the welfare state, that those who can work should work, but need help to do so, and that we need to protect those who can’t work.
Kendall rules out resigning after her bill only passes following multiple U-turns branded shambolic
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has recorded a pooled interview with Chris Mason, the BBC political editor.
She has ruled out resigning, saying she wants to carry on.
49 Labour MPs voted against welfare bill at second reading, division list shows
The division list for the second vote is now up on the Commons’ website. It shows that 49 Labour MPs voted against.
On Sky News Sam Coates has been using the Philip Cowley figures (see 11.42am) to show how this rebellion (44 rebels on the first vote) compares with other Labour ones. It is bigger than the worst previous rebellion during Starmer’s premiership, but not as big as the biggest revolt in the first year Tony Blair was in power.
Here is a Guardian tracker showing how MPs voted on the rebel Labour amendment.
After the result of the second vote was announced, Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, raised a point of order.
She said this afternoon had been a “shambles”. The bill had been “ripped apart literally in front of our eyes”. Shouldn’t the bill now be withdrawn?
(Of course, the bill was not literally ripped apart – but it was metaphorically ripped apart.)
The deputy Speaker, Nusrat Ghani, said that was not a matter for her.
MPs vote through welfare bill by 335 votes to 260 – majority of 75
The bill has passed by 335 votes to 260 – a majority of 75.
42 Labour MPs voted for Maskell amendment to kill off welfare bill, division list shows
Here are the numbers of MPs from each party voting for the Rachael Maskell amendment.
Alliance: 1
DUP: 4
Greens: 4
Independents: 10
Labour: 42
Lib Dems: 70
Plaid Cymru: 4
Reform UK: 4
SNP: 9
TUV: 1
UUP: 1
The Conservatives abstained on this vote.
This is from Jessica Elgot on voting on the Rachael Maskell amendment.
MP says that Farage and Corbyn standing near each other in the yes lobby is helping to focus minds as MPs vote on the Maskell wrecking amendment
The division list for the first vote should be available here.
But it seems to have crashed, and so nothing is coming up now.
MPs are now voting on the bill itself.
