Starmer to offer welfare concessions to try and placate Labour rebels

This includes 17 from Yorkshire and the Humber, including former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who are concerned that the bill significantly tightens personal independence payment eligibility, the main form of support for disabled people.

It is a significant act of defiance against Sir Keir, less than a year after he won a huge majority.

Other MPs have not gone public with their dissatisfaction, but are prepared to vote down the legislation unless there are concessions.

Rebels blamed No10 for the situation, saying this could have easily been avoided if Downing Street had taken heed of the whips’ warnings.

One backbencher said: “A lot of people have been saying they’re upset about this for months.

“To leave it until a few days before the vote, it’s not a very good way of running the country.”

They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: “I don’t think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.”

Yesterday, the Government confirmed that the first vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would take place on Tuesday, and a concerted effort has been launched by ministers to win round potential rebels.

The Prime Minister told MPs there was “consensus across the House on the urgent need for reform” of the “broken” welfare system.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

If the legislation clears its first hurdle it will then face a few hours’ examination by all MPs – rather than days or weeks in front of a committee tasked with looking at the Bill – with a plan for it to clear the Commons a little over a week later on July 9.

Ministers have said they will listen to suggestions to improve the legislation but opposition appears entrenched and the swift timetable for the Bill could add to critics’ concerns.

Labour’s York Central MP, Rachael Maskell, one of the rebels who signed the amendment, called for the Government to pull the bill.

“We have spoken to our constituents and organisations representing disabled people who reject the Bill because it will cause harm to disabled people and their voices have not been heard,” she said.

The plans restrict eligibility for pip and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit, with the aim of getting more people back into work and saving up to £5bn a year.

However, disabled people have not been consulted on the changes, which is one of the rebels’ main gripes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under pressure to pass the legislation, as the £5bn of savings has been factored into the Office for Budget Responsibility’s scoring of her fiscal statements.