Harman pulls Labour backing for welfare cuts
LABOUR will no longer support George Osborne’s cuts to benefits, Harriet Harman has said, after she faced a rebellion from scores of MPs, including most of the candidates for her party’s leadership.
Labour’s splits on welfare were set to burst out into the open on Monday with 40 MPs defying Miss Harman, the party’s acting leader, by voting against cuts.
Now, Miss Harman looks to have seen off the rebellion by tabling a “reasoned amendment” to the Welfare Reform Bill which says Labour will not support the legislation in its entirety.
The amendment makes clear that Labour supports some elements of the cuts – such as the household benefit cap – but not others – such as the abolition of the child poverty targets and cuts for people too ill to work.
It emerged on Wednesday that former Labour Welfare minister Helen Goodman had tabled a competing amendment which opposed the cuts altogether. She claimed 40 Labour MPs backed her amendment, despite Miss Harman previous- ly telling her party not to oppose the Bill.
It is understood leadership candidates Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn were among rebels keen to take a tougher line opposing cuts.
A Labour spokesman said: “As Harriet said at the weekend, Labour is going to listen to the public’s concerns about welfare and at the same time being an effective Opposition.”
Separately,
can disclose that David Cameron has given face-toface advice to Mr Corbyn about how to win the Labour leadership. The Prime Minister bumped into the hard left MP in the House of Commons ahead of a meeting with Conservative MPs on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Cameron said Mr Corbyn should model his campaign on his own successful bid to overhaul David Davis in 2005’s Conservative leadership battle.