Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said a vote on the government’s welfare bill will go ahead on Tuesday, despite a huge number of Labour MPs opposing the measures.
More than 130 MPs, including 120 Labour backbenchers, have signed an amendment calling for the proposals to be scrapped, making an embarrassing defeat for the government possible.
Senior ministers, including the chancellor and health secretary, have been ringing round MPs trying to persuade them to drop their opposition.
Speaking in the Commons, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride asked Rayner if she could defend the bill and explain why she thought so many of her own colleagues were “wrong”.
Rayner replied that the bill would help people into work, and end eligibility reassessments for the severely disabled.
“We won’t walk way and stand by and abandon millions of people trapped in a failing system left behind by him and his colleagues,” she said.
She accused the Conservatives of having “no plans and no idea” on welfare policy.
Speaking after Prime Minister’s Questions, a Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir recognised the strength of feeling but said leaving millions of people in a failing system was “not the moral or progressive thing to do”.
The government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill changes who would qualify for certain disability and sickness benefits.
Ministers have said the bill is crucial to slow down the increase in the number of people claiming benefits.
However, Labour critics of the bill have argued there has not been sufficient assessments of the impact of the measures, which they say will push large numbers into poverty.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party could be prepared to back the bill providing the government can guarantee it would reduce the welfare budget and get more people into work, without raising taxes – a list of conditions which the government would be unlikely to accede to.
The bill was raised at Prime Minister’s Question where – because the prime minister is at the Nato summit in the Netherlands – Rayner and Sir Mel were standing in for their respective leaders.
Given the level of opposition to the bill from the Labour ranks, there has been speculation the government will be forced to pull the vote in order to avoid a defeat.
Asked by Sir Mel if this was the case, Rayner replied unequivocally: “We will go ahead on Tuesday.”
Stride said Labour backbenchers had “heard that before” with the winter fuel payment, making reference to the government’s U-turn last month.
He then repeated his leader’s offer to the government to back their bill and save them from defeat, as long as ministers could commit to reducing the overall welfare bill.
Rayner responded with an attack on Sir Mel, who served as work and pensions secretary in the previous Conservative government.
“He demands a programme to help people into work – exactly what this bill does – after he left one in eight young people out of the economy.
“He demands further welfare savings, from the man who was in charge, as the welfare bill absolutely ballooned. They say cut welfare bill – they failed.”
Sir Mel said the government’s bill would fail to stop the number of claimants from rising and that tax rises in the autumn were “inevitable”.
He asked Rayner if she could rule out tax increases. She said the criticism was “a bit rich” coming from a party that had introduced “the biggest tax rises”.
Rayner is the latest in a series of ministers insisting that they will push ahead with the welfare changes.
However, as it stands, the numbers look difficult for the government and over the last few days senior ministers have been ringing round Labour MPs convincing them to back the bill.
So far, only one Labour MP, Samantha Niblett, has taken her name off the list of MPs supporting the amendment.
At PMQs, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper asked Rayner for a guarantee that “not a single person would lose a penny” until the review into Carer’s Allowance overpayment had been completed and the recommendations implemented.
The review was announced after more than 134,000 carers were forced to pay back thousands of pounds in over payments.
Rayner said the government was “taking steps” on the issue.