What are the concessions to the welfare bill – and will MPs back it?

Published

4 months ago

June 27, 2025

admin

Number 10 has made concessions on its welfare bill after crisis talks with Labour rebels.

Sir Keir Starmer will be hoping the changes are enough to avoid a Commons defeat when the measures are put to a vote on Tuesday – but several MPs have said they are still not satisfied.

Sky News looks at what was in the deal and whether it will be enough to win over critics.

Politics Live: Labour rebel hails ‘good deal’ after No 10 makes concessions on welfare

Changes to PIP

In a letter to MPs, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall confirmed all existing claimants of the personal independence payment (pip) will be exempt from the cuts to eligibility.

It means the new qualifying requirements will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only.

This is a big U-turn as the changes to pip, the main disability benefit in England, had caused the most upset among MPs planning to rebel.

Pip is money given to people, including some of whom are in work, who have extra care or mobility needs as a result of a disability.

People who claim it are awarded points depending on their ability to do certain activities, such as washing and preparing food, which influences how much they will receive.

Currently claimants need to score a minimum of eight points across a range of tasks to qualify for the daily living element (there is a mobility element that is not affected by the plans). Under the new rules people will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify.

By limiting the changes to new claimants only, it is estimated 370,000 people who had been due to lose out will now get to keep their benefit.

This will come at a cost of £1.5bn by the end of the parliament, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

It is not clear how that will be funded, prompting speculation of tax rises at the autumn budget.

Universal Credit

The second row back involves planned changes to universal credit (UC)

The government had intended to freeze the health top-up at £97 a week during this parliament.

However, all current recipients of the health element, as well as any new applicants meeting the “severe conditions criteria”, will now have their incomes protected in real terms.

The government will still cut the rate to £50 for new claimants from 2026/7, while raising the standard rate of UC for jobseekers.

More money for people to find work

The health top-up is for people who have a limited ability to work because of a disability or long term sickness, but ministers are concerned about the rising number of claimants and want to incentivise people back into work.

Ms Kendall previously said £1bn would be used for targeted support schemes to help people out of inactivity and into jobs.

In her letter, she said the government “will front load more of the additional funding generated by these reforms for back to work support for sick and disabled people”.

Will MPs back the changes?

Care minister Stephen Kinnock told Sky News on Friday morning the changes are a “really big step in the right direction”.

The purpose of the bill was to shave £5bn off the welfare budget by 2030 and tackle the rising numbers of people who are economically inactive. Lots of MPs said they agreed with the principle of reform but were concerned with the impact on disabled people.

Initially, over 120 Labour MPs had signed a “reasoned amendment” calling for the changes to be delayed while disabled people were consulted on.

Dame Meg Hillier, the influential chair of the Treasury select committee who had tabled the amendment, said last night that the government had offered a “good deal”.

However, it is ultimately up to individual MPs to decide if they want to support it.

Several MPs on the left of the party have come forward to say they won’t. This includes the likes of Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne and Nadia Whittome, who have expressed concerns about a two-tier system.

Sky News has spoken to other MPs who privately say they won’t back the bill. One rebel said a WhatsApp group has been set up to announce their intentions and he believes 50 have already stated their intention to vote against the bill.

Others have told Sky News they are undecided. One rebel said she has “no idea” how she’ll vote and is “waiting to see the finer details and how things pan out on Monday”. Another said he expects he will no longer vote against but will make his mind up firmly when he has seen the full details.

Politics

Thiel-backed Erebor wins US approval as Silicon Valley Bank rival emerges

Published

3 hours ago

October 15, 2025

admin

Thiel-backed Erebor wins US approval as Silicon Valley Bank rival emerges

Erebor’s green light from US regulators is among the most significant bank charter approvals tied to digital assets since the 2023 regional banking crisis.

Politics

China Merchants Bank tokenizes $3.8B fund on BNB Chain in Hong Kong

Published

9 hours ago

October 15, 2025

admin

China Merchants Bank tokenizes .8B fund on BNB Chain in Hong Kong

CMBI’s tokenization initiative with BNB Chain builds on its previous work with Singapore-based DigiFT, which tokenized its fund on Solana in August.

Politics

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Published

14 hours ago

October 15, 2025

admin

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Rachel Reeves has told Sky News she is looking at both tax rises and spending cuts in the budget, in her first interview since being briefed on the scale of the fiscal black hole she faces.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well,” the chancellor said when asked how she would deal with the country’s economic challenges in her 26 November statement.

Politics Hub: Follow latest updates

Ms Reeves was shown the first draft of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, revealing the size of the black hole she must fill next month, on Friday 3 October.

She has never previously publicly confirmed tax rises are on the cards in the budget, going out of her way to avoid mentioning tax in interviews two weeks ago.

Cabinet ministers had previously indicated they did not expect future spending cuts would be used to ensure the chancellor met her fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves also responded to questions about whether the economy was in a “doom loop” of annual tax rises to fill annual black holes. She appeared to concede she is trapped in such a loop.

Asked if she could promise she won’t allow the economy to get stuck in a doom loop cycle, Ms Reeves replied: “Nobody wants that cycle to end more than I do.”

She said that is why she is trying to grow the economy, and only when pushed a third time did she suggest she “would not use those (doom loop) words” because the UK had the strongest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year.

What’s facing Reeves?

Ms Reeves is expected to have to find up to £30bn at the budget to balance the books, after a U-turn on winter fuel and welfare reforms and a big productivity downgrade by the OBR, which means Britain is expected to earn less in future than previously predicted.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded UK growth projections by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3% of GDP this year – but also trimmed its forecast by 0.1% next year, also putting it at 1.3%.

The UK growth prospects are 0.4 percentage points worse off than the IMF’s projects last autumn. The 1.3% GDP growth would be the second-fastest in the G7, behind the US.

Last night, the chancellor arrived in Washington for the annual IMF and World Bank conference.

‘I won’t duck challenges’

In her Sky News interview, Ms Reeves said multiple challenges meant there was a fresh need to balance the books.

“I was really clear during the general election campaign – and we discussed this many times – that I would always make sure the numbers add up,” she said.

“Challenges are being thrown our way – whether that is the geopolitical uncertainties, the conflicts around the world, the increased tariffs and barriers to trade. And now this (OBR) review is looking at how productive our economy has been in the past and then projecting that forward.”

She was clear that relaxing the fiscal rules (the main one being that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to rely on taxation alone, not borrowing) was not an option, making tax rises all but inevitable.

“I won’t duck those challenges,” she said.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago what happens when a government, where the Conservatives, lost control of the public finances: inflation and interest rates went through the roof.”

Blame it on the B word?

Ms Reeves also lay responsibility for the scale of the black hole she’s facing at Brexit, along with austerity and the mini-budget.

This could risk a confrontation with the party’s own voters – one in five (19%) Leave voters backed Labour at the last election, playing a big role in assuring the party’s landslide victory.

The chancellor said: “Austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy.

“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit.

“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”