The Prime Minister has made his third U-turn in a month to avoid a humiliating defeat in the Commons on Tuesday.
Sir Keir Starmer, the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney met with leading rebels to agree changes to the welfare reforms.
They discussed changes to win over Labour rebels, but Starmer’s reputation is now damaged.
On Friday the health minister Stephen Kinnock said, “Keir Starmer is a prime minister who doesn’t put change and reform into the too-difficult box. He actually runs towards it and says: ‘Right, how do we fix it?’ And I’m sure that that’s what will be foremost in people’s minds on Tuesday.”
Meg Hillier, one of the leading rebels, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “We’re going to see some of the fine detail of this on Monday.
“We’re expecting a written ministerial statement from the government, so we will get more detail then. But I think, in my view, we got as much as we can get in the timeframe involved.”
Helen Whately, the Conservative spokesperson on work and pensions, said, “This is another humiliating U-turn forced upon Keir Starmer … The latest ‘deal’ with Labour rebels sounds a lot like a two-tier benefits system, more likely to encourage anyone already on benefits to stay there rather than get into work.”
A Number 10 spokesman said, “We have listened to MPs who support the principle of reform but are worried about the pace of change for those already supported by the system.
The package will preserve the social security system for those who need it by putting it on a sustainable footing, provide dignity for those unable to work, supports those who can and reduce anxiety for those currently in the system.
“Our reforms are underpinned by Labour values and our determination to deliver the change the country voted for last year.”
Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, who served as Shadow Defence Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, said, “Every MP will have to weigh up the deal for themselves.
“Alas, this smacks of a face saving exercise more than it does doing right by my sick and disabled constituents. No impact assessment. No co-production with disabled groups. No deal. I’ll still be voting against.”
Tory Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said Starmer’s U-turn is a sign of “weakness.”
He said, “If confirmed this is the latest in a growing list of screeching U-turns from this weak Labour Government.
Under pressure from his own MPs Starmer has made another completely unfunded spending commitment.
