By Archie Mitchell and Tara Cobham Kate Devlin
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
The depth of anger still felt towards Keir Starmer was voiced by York Central Labour MP Rachel Maskell, who tabled an amendment on Tuesday to kill the bill.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I think we saw yesterday the bill disintegrating before our eyes even in the last moments of the debate, when the minister was winding up, we heard that other sections of the bill will be removed.
“Throughout the day, what we saw was a change in power between the prime minister and his government and disabled people across our country. They having their voice at the heart of Parliament, and that’s why I put the reasoned amendment down.”
Ms Maskell refused to say that the prime minister had “shown good leadership” or even defend him against charges of being “immoral”.
She warned: “I think he should be listening far more. Of course, he’s got a complex job in a complex world at the moment, and I appreciate that.”
She said that the problems of the bill were that “the big elements, the fiscal elements, the elements determined by the Treasury, were not for consultation.”
She went on: “I believe there was a fix, because that paper was rushed out from the Treasury needing to find savings, and they chose to find savings on the back of disabled people.”