God, what a mess.
So here we are again - Sir Keir Starmer getting absolutely demolished by his own MPs and scrambling to save face with yet another humiliating U-turn. This time it's his flagship welfare reforms getting butchered just hours before the actual vote. I mean, the timing here is genuinely embarrassing.
The PM has basically thrown his disability benefit crackdown straight into the bin after Labour backbenchers threatened to blow up the entire Bill. Poor guy can't catch a break.
When Your Own Team Wants You to Fail
Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms had to stand up in the Commons and basically admit defeat. His exact words: "Others across the House during this debate have raised concerns that the changes to PIP are coming ahead of the conclusions of the review that I will be leading." Translation? We screwed up and everyone's furious.
"We have heard those concerns and that is why I can announce that we are going to remove Clause Five from the Bill at committee," he continued. Just... wow. Imagine having to say that 90 minutes before MPs vote on your supposedly crucial legislation.
The whole thing feels like watching someone's career implode in real time.
£4.8 Billion Down the Drain (Maybe)
Here's where it gets really painful for Rachel Reeves and her economic masterplan. The original welfare squeeze was supposed to save £4.8 billion annually. Then after last week's first U-turn, that dropped to £2.3 billion. Now? Who knows if they'll save anything at all.
Ministers had this whole scheme worked out - overhaul Personal Independence Payment rules from November 2026, make disabled claimants score at least four points in one specific activity (washing, dressing, preparing food) instead of the current system where you can get eight points across multiple tasks. Seemed straightforward enough.
Except their own MPs absolutely hated it.
Last week they tried to compromise by limiting the crackdown to new claimants only. Today they've shelved the entire thing with no set date for when (or if) it'll actually happen. Sir Stephen says it'll only come after his full PIP assessment review, due in autumn 2026.
The Rebellion Continues
You'd think this latest retreat might calm down the rebels, right? Wrong.
Josh Fenton-Glynn (one of 126 Labour MPs who signed the original rebel amendment) did call it "really good news" and said he wanted to support the Government at "every opportunity." But others are just exasperated. One MP told reporters no-one "knew what they were voting on anymore."
Can't say I blame them.
Rachael Maskell, the rebel ringleader, isn't backing down at all. She's still planning to torpedo the entire Bill: "The whole Bill is now unravelling and is a complete farce. What it won't do is stop the suffering of disabled people which is why we are determined to go ahead with the reasoned amendment and attempt to vote down the Bill at second reading."
Kemi Badenoch Smells Blood
The Tory leader is having an absolute field day with this chaos. She accused Labour ministers of "utter capitulation" and called the legislation "pointless." Her advice? "They should bin it, do their homework, and come back with something serious. Starmer cannot govern."
Harsh but... is she wrong?
Despite all this drama, they're still planning to hold the vote tonight. Because apparently when you're in a hole, the best strategy is to keep digging.
I genuinely feel bad for anyone trying to follow Labour's welfare policy at this point. It's like trying to nail jelly to a wall - just when you think you understand what they're doing, everything changes again.
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https://hellofaread.com/politics/when-your-boss-threatens-to-fire-you-from-america
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