Binance to terminate Russian ruble deposits next week
A senior Labour MP has said the government needs to take “corrective action” over planned disability benefit cuts – as Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing backbench rebellion.
Tan Dhesi, chair of the influential Commons defence committee, told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge the “disappointing” local election results show the government must listen and learn, particularly over welfare reforms.
The government has proposed tightening the eligibility requirements for the personal independent payment, known as PIP.
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A claimant must score a minimum of four points on one PIP daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit.
Mr Dhesi, the MP for Slough, said “corrective action” needs to be taken but insisted if the government changed tact, it would not be a U-turn as the disability cuts were only proposals.
Tan Dhesi spoke to Sky’s Sophy Ridge
“A government which is in listening mode should be looking at what the electorate is saying,” he said.
“And we need to make sure that it’s our moral duty, responsibility, to look after the most vulnerable within our community, whether that’s in Slough, whether that’s elsewhere across the country.
“So, I hope that the government will be taking on board that feedback and many of us as MPs are giving that feedback in various meetings happening here in Westminster and then we need to take corrective action.”
Alex Davies-Jones said the government was seeking to ‘protect the vulnerable’
Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the Politics Hub a Labour government “will always seek to protect the most vulnerable” and it wants to “listen to people who have got real lived experience”.
She added she has the “utmost respect for Tan, he’s a great constituency MP and he’s doing exactly what he should be doing, is representing his constituency”.
Sir Keir is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs, with about 40 in the Red Wall – Labour’s traditional heartlands in the north of England – reposting a statement on social media in which they said the leadership’s response to the local elections had “fallen on deaf ears”.
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Starmer defends winter fuel cuts
Several backbench Labour MPs also spoke out against the plans during a debate on PIP and disabled people in parliament on Wednesday.
Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he would “swim through vomit to vote against” the proposed changes and said: “This is not what the Labour Party was formed to do.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said she feared tightening PIP eligibility would cause deaths, adding: “Lest we forget that study that attributed 330,000 excess deaths in Britain between 2012 and 2019 to the last round of austerity cuts [under the Conservative government].”
Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, accused the government of putting forward “contradictory arguments”.
“On the one hand, they insist they are helping the disabled by putting them back to work,” she said.
“But on the other hand, they say this cut will save £9bn. Well, you can’t do both.”
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‘I’ll struggle if I lose disability support’
However, fellow Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, said MPs cannot “ignore this issue” of health-related benefit claimant figures rising at “twice the rate of underlying health conditions”.
Responding for the government, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms said PIP claims were set to “more than double, from two million to over 4.3 million this decade”.
“It would certainly not be in the interests of people currently claiming the benefits for the government to bury its head in the sand over that rate of increase,” he added.
Speaking at a hearing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent toed the party line in suggesting support for two crypto-related bills moving through Congress.
Bessent addressed lawmakers at a May 7 hearing of the House Financial Services Committee, saying that the United States should be the “premier destination for digital assets” in response to a question about American dominance over China in crypto-related innovation. The Treasury Secretary added that “good market structure” and “stablecoin legislation” could help ensure this outcome.
Bessent’s remarks echoed those of other Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump, who initially claimed he wanted to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” during his 2024 campaign. The Treasury Secretary was likely referring to the draft of a digital asset market structure bill released by House Republicans on May 6 and the GENIUS bill to regulate stablecoins, expected to be taken up for a vote in the Senate on May 8.
The Treasury Secretary, a Trump nominee, has stood by the president for significant announcements in crypto-aligned policy, including an executive order to establish a sovereign wealth fund and as a member of a working group to explore federal regulations for stablecoins and a national crypto stockpile. He suggested during a confirmation hearing that he would oppose the creation of any US-issued central bank digital currency while in office.
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Democrats push back on crypto bills amid memecoin dinner controversy
Even before announcing that he intended to hold an exclusive dinner and VIP tour for some of his top memecoin holders, Trump faced scrutiny from many lawmakers over allegations of conflicts of interest surrounding his crypto ventures. However, the dinner announcement seemed to galvanize some Democrats against any crypto-related legislation.
Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, led a walkout of a hearing addressing the Republican-drafted crypto market structure bill on May 6, citing the need to explore “Trump’s crypto corruption.” A group of nine Democrats in the Senate likewise said they will not support the GENIUS stablecoin bill in its current form, suggesting stronger Anti-Money Laundering, foreign issuer, and national security safeguards.
It’s unclear at the time of publication whether Republicans, who control both chambers, will still have the votes to pass either bill.
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Sir Keir Starmer sent his chief cabinet “fixer” to attempt to calm down jittery Labour MPs in a mutinous mood after last week’s elections drubbing by Reform.
But instead of calming nerves, cabinet office minister Pat McFadden warned Labour were now facing “the fight of our lives” against Nigel Farage and his party.
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Rebel MPs claimed Mr McFadden, who spoke to up to 100 Labour MPs in a Commons committee room for an hour, was acting as a “human shield” for the embattled prime minister.
The showdown came as the fury of Labour MPs over winter fuel payment cuts reached a crescendo, after Sir Keir emphatically rejected demands for a U-turn.
The emergency meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, called at just a few hours’ notice, was officially billed by the party’s high command as a briefing on their “plan for change”.
But it was also intended to head off a mutiny by Labour MPs after shock victories by Reform UK last week in county council polls, mayoral elections and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
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Key moments from local elections
No sign of a winter fuel U-turn
Some Labour MPs were privately critical of Sir Keir for not facing his backbench critics. Others stayed away, claiming the meeting was pointless because the government was not listening to their concerns.
As a result, many of the party’s most high-profile rebels on winter fuel payments, benefit cuts and other issues were absent. Veteran left-winger Diane Abbot attended but left before the end, refusing to talk to journalists.
Many of those attending were younger MPs elected last July and so the mood was not as acrimonious as the leadership might have feared. Mr McFadden was applauded at the end of the meeting.
Speaking with Treasury ministers Darren Jones and James Murray alongside him but no Rachel Reeves, who was visiting Scotland, Mr McFadden gave no hint of concessions on controversial policies.
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The choice facing Labour in face of Reform threat
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Starmer defends winter fuel cuts
‘Battle for the future’
Instead, he launched an attack on Mr Farage’s Reform, which senior cabinet ministers acknowledge is now a real threat to Labour and may become the party’s main rivals.
According to a government source present at the meeting, Mr McFadden began his speech by saying: “The big point I want to make to you is that a new fight is taking shape.
“It’s a fight between our values and a nationalist politics of the right. It’s a battle for the very future and the heart and soul of our country.”
Mr McFadden was said to have criticised Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who in her victory speech vowed Reform would “reset Britain to its glorious past”.
Pat McFadden gave a speech on cybersecurity this morning. Pic: PA
‘We have to win’
“That is not our project, and it won’t be our project,” Mr McFadden said, as he said Labour was focused on the country’s “glorious future”.
He added: “Labour is always at its best when we look to the future. This is the fight of our lives, this is the generational fight in this new political era.
“I want to tell you we have to take on this new fight for the future – and we have to win.”
Mr McFadden addressed Labour MPs after Sir Keir dismayed many Labour MPs in a clash with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs by refusing to admit he was wrong to remove winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.
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