May pushes on with Universal Credit despite Commons loss
●Vote to pause legislation passes after Tories abstain on controversial policy
MPS last night secured a symbolic victory over Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority government after they backed a Labour-led motion to pause Universal Credit. A vote was forced in the House of Commons against the backdrop of the Conservatives whipping their MPS to abstain.
Labour’s motion was approved by 299 votes to zero but the vote was non-binding on ministers and Mrs May will press ahead with the policy.
The vote came after a fierce debate of more than five hours that the Tories’ Douglas Ross was condemned for missing.
The Moray MP was instead officiating at a Champions League football match in Barcelona.
Earlier, the Work and Pensions
Secretary David Gauke announced a concession from the government with the scrapping of charges of up to 55p a minute for calls to the universal credit helpline.
He told the House of Commons work and pensions committee that the line would be switched to a freephone number over the next month, and that all Department of Work and Pensions helplines would be free of charge by the end of the year.
Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the health committee, rebelled against the Tory whip and was the only Conservative MP to vote in favour of Labour’s motion. She urged ministers to recognise the need to address a “fundamental flaw” about Universal Credit, which rolls a number of benefits into a single payment, and raised concerns about the time it takes for new claimants to receive their first payment under the system.
Dr Wollaston also criticised her party’s orders to abstain, telling the debate: “If there is no way for me to express my view on behalf of my constituents, that I think this fundamental flaw must be addressed before it is rolled out to the Totnes constituency next year, I’m afraid I will have to vote against the government.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams claimed the overall result was a “major defeat” for the government.
Speaker John Bercow also criticised the government’s decision to abandon the vote, telling MPS that parliament was “bigger than any one party” and that “what we do here matters”. He added that the government should explain to the House of Commons what it intends to do.
Tory former minister Sir Edward Leigh questioned what the point of the House of Commons was if it merely expresses opinions “for the sake of it” as he made a point of order following the vote.
He said he had trooped through the lobbies to vote on hundreds of divisions on Wednesdays over 34 years as an MP, and that he was “under the impression that it served some purpose”.
Sir Edward said: “This is not and should not be a university debating society, what is the point of the House of Commons if we just express opinions for the sake of it?”