They do not however include the West Dunbartonshire MP Douglas McAllister, who was formerly Provost of West Dunbartonshire Council, which will dismay those with leanings to the left in the Labour Party.
Some 108 MPs’ signatures appear on a reasoned amendment spelling out why they cannot support the Labour Government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which would cut back disability benefit payments by around £5 billion per year.
If passed – which it could do with support from Westminster’s opposition parties – the amendment would block the bill from progressing to its second reading when it returns to the Commons on July 1.
The amendment notes that the UK Government’s “own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of [the bill], including 50,000 children”.
Of the 108 Labour MPs who have signed the amendment, nine are from Scottish Labour. They are:
- Patricia Ferguson
- Tracy Gilbert
- Scott Arthur
- Kirsteen Sullivan
- Richard Baker
- Euan Stainbank
- Lilian Jones
- Elaine Stewart
- Brian Leishman
Thedre is no indication at the time of writing whether Douglas McAllister, the recently elected MP for West Dunbartonshire, will support the rebels, although observers believe there is little chance of that happening.
The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has supported the UK Government’s plans to cut welfare and it believed McAllister will vote with Sir Keir Starmer to bring on the cuts.
PM vows to press on with welfare cuts as rebellion grows
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “press ahead” with the government’s planned welfare changes, despite the growing rebellion from Labour backbench MPs.
More than 120 Labour MPs have now signed up to an effort to block plans to cut disability and sickness-related benefits payments to save £5bn a year by 2030.
The threatened rebellion is enough to wipe out the government’s working majority in Parliament.
But speaking ahead of a meeting of Nato leaders, the prime minister said the current welfare system was “unsustainable” and could not be left unreformed.
Asked by journalists if he would consider pausing the reforms given the size of the rebellion, Sir Keir said: “I intend to press ahead”.
He added that the current welfare system “traps people” on benefits, and was set to fuel “unsustainable” rises in the cost to taxpayers.
He added that the projected increase in the number claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pips) each year was “the equivalent of the population of a city the size of Leicester”.
“So those that care about a future welfare system have to answer the question: ‘how do you reform what you’ve got, to make sure it’s sustainable for the future?”
Asked if he would be happy to rely on Conservative votes to push the reforms through Parliament, he said: “I have no idea what the Conservatives will do. I don’t think they’ve got the first idea what they’re doing.”
‘Groundswell of opinion’
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill – set to be voted on by MPs next Tuesday – would make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim personal independence payment (Pip).
The rebel Labour MPs have signed a so-called “reasoned” amendment that, if selected by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and approved in a vote, would stop the bill progressing through Parliament.
The rebels cite the the number of people the plans are expected to push into relative poverty, a lack of consultation, and an inadequate impact assessment on the consequences on the jobs market as reasons why they oppose the plans.
While the success of the amendment is not assured, over half of all Labour backbenchers have signed it, indicating the extent of the potential rebellion facing ministers.
Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who tabled the amendment, has called on the government to “listen to this groundswell of opinion” and change course.
Dame Meg, who also chairs the Treasury Select Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One the government’s communication around the bill has “not been good” and had led to confusion.
While agreeing that the welfare system needs reform, she warned there were flaws in how the plans were being rolled out, and said Labour experts were shut out of the process.
One of the main co-ordinators behind the amendment, who did not wish to be named, has told the BBC the government’s U-turn on cutting winter fuel payments had emboldened many of those who have signed the amendment.
They said MPs “all voted for winter fuel [cuts] and have taken so much grief in our constituencies, so colleagues think why should I take that on again?”.
It is understood that plans for the amendment began when Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall offered a partial olive branch to rebels by expanding the transition period for anyone losing Pip from four to 13 weeks.
He said: “Labour MPs have a choice to make. Do they believe that the most vulnerable people should be looked after, or not? That’s what the vote on these welfare reforms ultimately boils down to. This vote will define careers and this Labour Government.”
There are 29 Scottish Labour MPs who have not signed the amendment, including those in the more right-wing faction the “Labour Growth Group”. These include Blair McDougall, Johanna Baxter, Gordon McKee, Zubir Ahmed, and Melanie Ward.
Labour committee chairs oppose the UK welfare reforms
Patricia Ferguson, the MP for Glasgow West, chairs of the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster and is viewed as an unlikely rebel.
A further nine Labour select committee chairs have also signed the reasoned amendment, underlining the scale of the challenge facing the UK Government. These are:
- Tan Dhesi
- Helen Hayes
- Florence Eshalomi
- Ruth Cadbury
- Meg Hillier
- Ruth Jones
- Sarah Owen
- Debbie Abrahams
- Cat Smith
Other senior Labour MPs to have signed the amendment include former transport secretary Louise Haigh.
The Times reported that although the list does not include current ministers, as many as a dozen are said to be privately opposing the welfare reforms.
All the Labour MPs opposing the UK welfare reforms
Here is a full list of all the MPs to have signed the reasoned amendment against the UK Government’s welfare changes:
- Meg Hillier
- Debbie Abrahams
- Helen Hayes
- Sarah Owen
- Florence Eshalomi
- Paulette Hamilton
- Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
- Cat Smith
- Ruth Cadbury
- Patricia Ferguson
- Ruth Jones
- Louise Haigh
- Vicky Foxcroft
- Olivia Blake
- Anneliese Midgley
- Antonia Bance
- Laurence Turner
- Anna Dixon
- Dawn Butler
- Yuan Yang
- Richard Baker
- Kirsteen Sullivan
- Lee Barron
- Mr Jonathan Brash
- Ms Stella Creasy
- Ben Coleman
- Mr Clive Betts
- Matt Bishop
- Sadik Al-Hassan
- Abtisam Mohamed
- Lee Pitcher
- Lauren Edwards
- Tony Vaughan
- Connor Naismith
- Matt Western
- Paul Davies
- Charlotte Nichols
- Kate Osamor
- Chris Webb
- Josh Fenton-Glynn
- Sarah Hall
- Dr Scott Arthur
- Tracy Gilbert
- Gill Furniss
- Dr Beccy Cooper
- Adam Jogee
- Maya Ellis
- Alison Hume
- Daniel Francis
- Jo Platt
- Patrick Hurley
- Kirith Entwistle
- Henry Tufnell
- Darren Paffey
- Yasmin Qureshi
- Mohammad Yasin
- Peter Lamb
- Elaine Stewart
- Dr Allison Gardner
- Lillian Jones
- Marsha De Cordova
- Kevin McKenna
- Clive Efford
- Lizzi Collinge
- Melanie Onn
- Andrew Cooper
- Fabian Hamilton
- Ms Polly Billington
- David Williams
- Mr Richard Quigley
- Ms Marie Rimmer
- Samantha Niblett
- Sam Rushworth
- Dr Rosena Allin-Khan
- Emma Lewell
- Richard Burgon
- Kate Osborne
- Rachael Maskell
- Amanda Hack
- Rebecca Long Bailey
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy
- Paula Barker
- Cat Eccles
- Jon Trickett
- Dr Simon Opher
- Ian Lavery
- Neil Duncan-Jordan
- Apsana Begum
- Chris Hinchliff
- Ian Byrne
- John McDonnell
- Nadia Whittome
- Ms Diane Abbott
- Kim Johnson
- Andy McDonald
- Brian Leishman
- Imran Hussain
- Euan Stainbank
- Lorraine Beavers
- Steve Witherden
- Mary Kelly Foy
- Clive Lewis
- Jen Craft
- James Naish
- Terry Jermy
- Grahame Morris
- Navendu Mishra
- Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
Top of page picture is of young disabled people who would lose out if Labour cuts go ahead.
Voting for cuts will not be a problem for Douglas. He voted for £50m of them when he was a Labour Cllr on WDC.
Congratulations Mr McAllister, you have just made sure labour will never receive my vote again, ever, thanks to your disability vote.
Don’t waste your time replying as it will make zero difference to my spam box.
Lorry Mcgeown
Clydebank and ex civil service employee