Exclusive:
Every Labour MP has been sent a letter by the Green Party urging them to rebel against plans to slash around £6billion from the welfare bill ahead of an announcement next week
Every Labour MP has been handed a plea to “take a stand” against sweeping welfare cuts expected to be announced next week.
The Government is set to unveil around £6billion of savings. It has not denied reports that Personal Independence Payments (PIP), awarded to people with disabilities and long term health conditions, will be frozen. It has sparked anger among backbenchers, and multiple Cabinet members are understood to have pushed back.
In a letter sent to every Labour MP, Green Party MP Sian Berry wrote: “Please take a stand against this.” It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted the benefits system is “broken” and “not working for anyone”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to publish a policy paper next week outlining plans to cut billions from the welfare bill in a drive to get people into work.
Ms Berry wrote to Labour MPs: “I am certain that your inbox, like mine, is filled with emails from constituents telling you how terrified and anxious they feel about how to make ends meet should their support payments be ripped away.
“There is no moral case for making these cuts.” And her letter continues: “Even (former Tory Chancellor) George Osborne, at the height of austerity, ruled out freezing inflation-linked rises to PIP payments; a change the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is rumoured to be introducing.
“I know you didn’t campaign for this, and that you stood up at the election for a welfare system based on dignity and respect.” Furious Labour MPs have made their opposition clear, with left-winger Richard Burgeon confronting Mr Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday demanding a wealth tax on the mega-rich instead.
Ms Reeves said: “We will set out our plans for welfare reform, but it is absolutely clear that the current system is not working for anyone. It is not working for people who need support, it’s not working to get people into work so that more people can fulfil their potential, and it’s not working for the taxpayer when the bill for welfare is going up by billions of pounds in the next few years.
“So, we do need to get a grip. We need to spend more on national defence, but we need to reform our public services, and we need to reform our broken welfare system.”
A Downing Street spokesman yesterday(FRI) warned the current benefits system will “swallow more taxpayers’ money and leave more people trapped in a life of unemployment and inactivity”.
He said: “That’s not just bad for the economy, it’s bad for people too, and that’s why this Government will set out plans to overhaul the health and disability benefits system shortly.”
No10 pledged ministers ensure the plan supports those who can work to do so, while “protecting those who can’t”. The number of claimants on universal credit (UC) with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work rose by half a million in a year to 2.5 million people.
The latest figure for claimants across Great Britain as of December 2024 was up from two million the previous year.
