Keir Starmer has confirmed Downing Street is offering concessions to rebel Labour MPs to get his welfare bill over the line.
The prime minister told the Commons he wanted “values of fairness” to underpin the legislation so the government could “get this right” on fixing the broken benefits system.
With cabinet ministers and his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, deployed to win over rebels, Starmer said conversations over changes to his proposals would “continue in the coming days” in the run-up to the vote on Tuesday.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that Downing Street was considering watering down changes to the eligibility rules for disability benefits, which had been significantly tightened by the changes in the bill.
More than 120 MPs are poised to rebel and there remains division at the top of government over how to stem the growing anger.
Concessions under consideration include changes to the points needed to be eligible for personal independence payments (Pip), a benefit paid to those in and out of work. MPs also want changes made to other proposals affecting the health top-up for universal credit, which applies to those who cannot work.
After Starmer fuelled further anger by dismissing the backlash as “noises off”, the prime minister took a more conciliatory tone when he addressed the Commons on his return from the Nato summit in The Hague.
“I recognise there is a consensus across the house on the urgent need for reform of our welfare system, because the British people deserve protection and dignity when they are unable to work, and support into work when they can,” he said. “At the moment, they are failed every single day by the broken system created by the Conservatives, which achieves neither.
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“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.”