Liz Kendall has defended the government’s welfare U-turn saying: “Sometimes there is strength in listening.”
The embattled work and pensions secretary said “positive changes” have come about as a result of crisis talks with senior Labour backbenchers, who were poised to vote against planned cuts to disability benefits next week.
Politics latest: Welfare changes ‘could cost £3.2bn per year by 2030’
However, she would not guarantee the bill will pass, amid criticism from some MPs the changes don’t go far enough.
The welfare concessions follow a U-turn over cuts to winter fuel and the decision to launch a grooming inquiry.
Asked how the government can be trusted, Ms Kendall said: “Sometimes there’s strength in listening.
“I really believe that to be the case, that you end up in the right position when you talk to all of those with knowledge and experience and actually, if you want decisions to be the right ones and to last for generations to come, I believe that’s how you make the right changes.”
The concessions include exempting existing personal independence claimants (pip) from the stricter new criteria, while the universal credit health top-up will only be cut and frozen for new applications.
This has led to criticism of a two-tier system, but Ms Kendall said it is “very common in the welfare system that there are protections for existing claimants”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“No leadership” in Labour says Tory MP
She said she “hopes” the changes have done enough to get the bill over the line next week.
The cabinet minister also said government had “more to do” and would “talk to people over the coming days”, with many MPs still on the fence about whether they will back the new proposals.
The concessions were hashed out last night after a frantic ring around of MPs earlier in the week failed to bring critics onside.
The government had planned to tighten pip criteria for new and existing claimants, with some 370,000 people set to lose out.
It was part of a package of measures aimed at shaving £5bn off the welfare bill by 2030 and getting more people into work amid record levels of economic inactivity.
However, MPs were concerned that disabled people had not been consulted, while the government’s own impact assessment said the changes could plunge 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Welfare reforms ‘Step in the right direction’
Ministers insisted this would be offset by measures to get people back into work, but many rebel MPs said while they agreed with that in principle it wasn’t clear how this will be achieved.
By Thursday, 127 Labour MPs had backed an amendment calling for the changes to be paused for further consultation – meaning the bill was at risk of being defeated when it goes to a vote on Tuesday.
Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee who had tabled the amendment, said last night that the government had offered a “good deal”.
Read more:
Beth Rigby analysis: Welfare bill a humiliating blow for Starmer
What are the concessions to the welfare bill – and will MPs back it?
Ultimately, individual MPs will decide if they want to support it.
Many MPs on the left of the party have said they won’t, with the likes of Ian Byrne and Nadia Whittome saying no concessions are enough while cuts are still going ahead and the bill should be pulled.
Others have told Sky News they are undecided and want to see more details first.
None of the rebels have publicly said they will now support the government, but two have told Sky News they expect they will vote for the new measures.
It’s not clear how much the new package will save, with those details expected to by set out in the autumn budget.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said on Friday that the changes will be fully funded but refused to be drawn on whether that meant tax rises.
He rejected the suggestion that Sir Keir is at the mercy of his backbenchers, saying he has “listened to MPs who support principles but worried about pace of change”.
