The Prime Minister has never been a huge fan of the press. But there is an apt Fleet Street phrase to describe his screeching shift in tone on the great Labour welfare rebellion: reverse ferret! Just yesterday, he was all bullish talk, claiming that the more than 100 Labour MPs who want to vote down his Welfare Bill were little more than ‘noises off’. But this morning in parliament, he has adopted a much more emollient approach. It comes after six more MPs backed a rebel amendment overnight, bringing the total to 126 – around half of those Labour MPs who do not hold a government role.
The marked change in language is now being taken as No. 10 running up a white flag
In a statement to the House of Commons on this week’s Nato summit, Starmer confirmed that he is now willing to make concessions on Welfare Bill, saying that reforms must comply with ‘Labour values of fairness.’ He told MPs, ‘All colleagues want to get this right, and so do I… [the] conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.’ Starmer’s remarks follow comments by Douglas Alexander, the trade minister, who told broadcasters this morning that there was ‘common ground’ between the government and the rebels.
For the rebels, the marked change in language is now being taken as No. 10 running up a white flag, five days before the second reading of the Welfare Bill on Tuesday. Details of any compromise are still being thrashed out ahead of that vote – but Starmer is clearly open to softening its stance after running out of road. The PM confirmed that the vote is not being pulled, which raises the question: just what concessions are the 120 Labour rebels willing to accept?
If – and it is still a big if – a deal can be struck, then Labour’s parliamentary managers will seek to rid themselves of the Welfare Bill as quickly as possible. If the legislation passes second reading next Tuesday, the whips will try to ram through the remaining stages in a single day the following week. That is unlikely to go down well with Starmer’s backbenchers, who have this week shown a keen willingness to scrutinise the details of the £5 billion cuts entailed by the Bill.
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