Keir Starmer’s cuts to disability support mark a “fresh round of austerity on vulnerable people”, a Labour MP has told The London Economic as he has written to Keir Starmer alongside 42 parliamentary colleagues calling for a change in direction.
Welsh Labour MP Steve Witherden has revealed he will vote against Labour’s plans to cut welfare support as it threatens his constituents’ “financial security” amid fears in No 10 that the government is heading towards an explosive rebellion.
The MP, who was elected in July, has also accused Keir Starmer and the Labour leadership of “not yet” understanding what the “electorate is telling us”, urging him to decide on alternative policies or “risk losing our purpose as a party.”
Witherden is the latest Labour MP to oppose the government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper, which is set to tighten Pip’s eligibility requirements by assessing claimants using a scoring system in a bid to save £5 billion a year by 2029.
It has been reported that up to 80 MPs have already considered rebelling against the measures.
Talking to The London Economic, Steve Witherden said: “I was a secondary school teacher for 20 years and I spent most of those as a trade union rep, fighting for good jobs. I know that from an honest day’s work comes pride and dignity.
“This is true for disabled people as much as anyone else. It is also true that the benefits system helps those who can’t work go about their lives with dignity too.
“Changes to Personal Independence Payments will make many of my constituents suddenly ineligible for support and face threats to their financial security. This will not make it easier for them to find and stay in work.
“With an older and poorer population, where one in seven working age people receive PIP, the cuts will hit Wales particularly hard.
“I became a Labour MP to stand up for my constituents. When given the opportunity, I will be voting against the Green Paper, a fresh round of austerity on vulnerable people.”
“The leadership has not yet understood what the electorate is telling us, and has been telling us for some time. The alternatives to further austerity are available but we must forcefully make the argument for them. If we fail to make and win these arguments, we risk losing our purpose as a party.”
Last month, Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East and a former frontbencher, told The London Economic that Keir Starmer is facing the “mother of all rebellions” over these proposed cuts.
“If the government presses ahead with its cuts to disability benefits, I think it is no exaggeration to say it will face the mother of all rebellions well beyond the left of the parliamentary Labour party,” he said. “There are huge numbers of Labour MPs who are deeply uncomfortable about this. It is not the Labour thing to do and it is not what any of the Labour backbenchers got into politics to do.”
Instead, Burgon is urging the prime minister to implement a 2 per cent wealth tax on assets over £10 million as it will “raise up to £24 billion a year”.
“A real wealth tax would have to be a part of a larger package to raise funds and turn things around. The Labour government should be proudly redistributing wealth and I don’t think we can just be relying on growth to turn things around after 14 years of the Conservatives,” he added.
The Department of Work and Pensions said: “As part of our Plan for Change, we’re putting the welfare system on a more sustainable footing, so the safety net will always be there to protect those who need it most, and genuinely supports sick and disabled people into work – backed by our £1bn employment support offer.
“There has been no immediate change to Pip eligibility, and we are currently consulting on how best to ensure those impacted by the changes continue to receive the support they need.”
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