By Rachael Burford
Sir Keir Starmer is facing his largest rebellion yet over plans to cut sickness and disability benefits.
In a bid to get the backlash from backbench MPs under control and avoid an embarrassing defeat in the Commons, the government agreed several concessions to the welfare reforms being voted on on Tuesday.
They included protecting people currently claiming personal independence payments (Pip) from changes due to come into effect in November 2026, and rowing back plans to cut the health-related element of universal credit.
But backbench anger has continued to simmer, with the Prime Minister being accused of creating a 鈥渢wo-tier鈥 benefits system and a statement from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall on Monday receiving a negative response.
Here are the rebel Labour politicians leading the charge:
The MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch has been front and centre of the backlash against the welfare reforms.
As chair of the Treasury Select Committee, her role is more usually to scrutinise rather than lead a revolt.
But last week, she authored the original amendment that would have killed off the flagship welfare reforms and which forced Sir Keir鈥檚 government鈥檚 into making concessions.
She was one of a small group of MPs who thrashed out the compromise.
Her comments during Ms Kendall鈥檚 statement in the Commons on Monday suggested she was still uneasy about the cost cutting measures.
But on Tuesday, Ms Hillier confirmed she would vote for the welfare bill saying Downing Street has 鈥渓istened鈥 and 鈥渉onoured鈥 the promises it made.
The Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee is also one of the original architects of the welfare rebellion.
The MP for Oldham and Saddleworth East has suggested that she will still not support the Bill, even after concessions were made as she believes they do not go far enough.
She said she hopes further changes can be made through amendments before the vote on Tuesday.
Ms Abrahams believed the government were set to agree that cuts for future Pip claimants would be put on hold until a review into the process had taken place, and that the saving to the health element of universal credit would be pushed back to November 2026.
鈥淭he review should determine both the new process, the new points and the new descriptors,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 pre-determine it at four points at the moment.鈥
This is not the first time the MP for York Central has disagreed with Sir Keir on policy.
She has also been outspoken about her opposition to cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners and the government鈥檚 decision to make savings to overseas aid.
A leading rebel, she has tabled a reasoned amendment that would block the bill.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no confidence鈥 we鈥檙e being asked to sign a blank check even with these changes,鈥 she said on Monday.
The former Transport Secretary, who was sacked from her cabinet job last November, has not been the most visible of the rebels.
But she has been key in collecting and counting their votes. She appeared to suggest she was pleased with the concessions made to the Bill and offered her support to the tweaked legislation over the weekend.
The Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley told the BBC her fellow MPs were “really pleased that the government has now listened to those concerns and they’ve made a significant number of concessions”.
Sir Sadiq Khan does not have a vote in Tuesday鈥檚 debate, but he has been a major thorn in the side of the Prime Minister over the welfare reforms.
The Mayor of London has repeatedly expressed his concerns over the cuts, despite Sir Keir鈥檚 partial U-turn.
He has said the proposals need 鈥渞adical transformation to be fit for purpose鈥.
On Monday he said: 鈥淚 welcome the changes announced by the Government, and I welcome that the Government has pledged to work with disabled people and disabled groups. 鈥淏ut I still have serious concerns about these plans. I鈥檝e met too many Londoners who do work, but through no fault of their own need support from the state, and they鈥檙e really worried they鈥檒l lose that.
鈥淭he mission of the Labour government should be to support people out of poverty and this Bill still needs radical transformation to be fit for purpose.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping today and tomorrow the Government go further to address the concerns many of us have.鈥