Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed the government’s concessions on the welfare bill will cost the taxpayer £2.5 billion by 2030. The total welfare bill is meant to swell to an astronomical £100 billion by then, but bloodthirsty backbenchers have already halved a measly £5 billion saving – and at least 50 are still unhappy with the retreat. Kendall told the Commons “reforming welfare isn’t easy“. It looks more like it’s virtually impossible…
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is delivering a statement in the Commons outlining the U-turns on the welfare cuts. At least 50 Labour MPs are still unhappy…
Kendall confirms investment in Pathways to Work will now increase to:
-£200 million in 2026/27
-£400 million in 2027/28 (up from £300m)
-£600 million in 2028/29 (up from £400m)
-£1 billion in 2029/30
Commons leader Lucy Powell has given an interview to The House magazine in which the only substantial modernisation reform she manages to suggest is getting rid of the word “bill.” Ummm…
Apart from introducing call-lists for debates Powell says no to reforming the seating structure, electronic divisions et cetera but takes head on the notion that parliamentarians should understand what bills and divisions are:
“One thing that we’ve heard quite strongly is where things have got a name or are given a title that doesn’t actually speak to what it is. I think people actually don’t even understand the term ‘bill’, let alone all the myriad of different versions of that. We all get emails every day about a Ten-Minute Rule Bill. What is a Ten-Minute Rule Bill? The public don’t know that… It’s a bill that’s not actually a bill. It’s not really going anywhere – it’s a title. Or the way that we call things divisions and not just votes. Do people understand what they actually mean?”
Some in SW1 might suggest scrapping the MPs instead…
Starmer is in the Commons to deliver a statement on the NATO and G7 summits. Meanwhile the welfare rebellion continues to rumble on…
Starmer confirms he will offer concessions to Labour rebels ahead of the vote on Tuesday. He said:
“I know colleagues across the house are eager to start fixing that, and so am I, and that all colleagues want to get this right, and so do I. We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness. That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.”
Climbing down…
Amid the growing rebellion over the welfare bill, Angela Rayner said to Mel Stride during DPMQs:
“We will go ahead (with the vote) on Tuesday.”
Wouldn’t be so sure…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”