Keir Starmer faces revolt by 150 MPs over welfare cuts as frontbenchers ‘poised to quit’ over reforms – UK Times

Keir Starmer is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership, as more than 150 MPs are preparing to vote against his upcoming welfare cuts.

It is understood that there is growing upset among both parliamentary private secretaries (PPS) and even government ministers, who are said to be considering quitting if the government doesn’t water down its proposals. It comes amid deep concern over the impact of the proposed changes, which will see personal independence payments cut for around 800,000 people.

One PPS told The Independent she is horrified by the direction of the government, claiming that the prime minister simply doesn’t care what his MPs think.

It comes after more than 100 MPs — understood to be primarily made up of those who won their seats for the first time in 2024 — signed a letter to the chief whip warning that they are unable to support the bill in its current form.

It is understood a separate letter signed by around 40 MPs was sent to Sir Keir warning against proceeding with the changes in their full form just days before.

Meanwhile, sources told the i Paper that around five PPSs would be prepared to quit if changes are not made to the upcoming cuts.

While a rebellion of this scale would not be enough for the bill to be defeated, it would be a significant knock to the prime minister’s authority and represent wider disquiet with the direction of the government.

It comes despite the prime minister U-turning on his controversial cuts to winter fuel payments earlier this week, after months of mounting anger from voters and Labour MPs.

In a major climbdown over Rachel Reeves’ decision to strip payments from 10 million pensioners, the prime minister said he wanted to look at widening eligibility “as the economy improves”.

The decision to means-test the annual payment of up to £300, rather than give it to all pensioners, was widely blamed for Labour’s disastrous recent local election results, which saw Nigel Farage’s Reform party surge to take 677 council seats in England.

The reversal was part of an attempt by Sir Keir to turn around his party’s fortunes amid fears of a rebellion from backbenchers over benefit cuts, anger over his language on immigration and difficult poll ratings.

However, The Independent understands that many MPs who are concerned over the welfare cuts have not been won over by the U-turn, primarily because the changes offered by the government are so thin on detail.

So far, No 10 has refused to say whether the changes would be in place by this winter – or who would be affected – meaning cash-strapped pensioners could face another winter of misery.

To make matters worse, it emerged on Friday that Labour has delayed a flagship plan designed to cut child poverty until the autumn.

Just weeks after coming to power, ministers said they would consider ditching the “cruel” two-child benefit cap in a bid to head off a backbench Labour revolt.

But the overall strategy in which the policy was expected to be included has now been pushed back, despite fears of a rebellion on welfare cuts within weeks.

The package of welfare cuts is aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since.

While the government hopes the proposals can save £5bn a year by the end of the decade, there are fears it would push thousands of disabled people into poverty.

In recent days, Downing Street has indicated that the government plans to press ahead with the reforms in full, with the prime minister’s official spokesperson saying the welfare system is “fundamentally not working and the argument for reform is overwhelming”.

The Department for Work and Pensions has been contacted for comment.