Genie out of the bottle Labour backbenchers now know their power

A fortnight ago in a corridor near the House of Commons chamber, a close confidant of the prime minister smiled and shook his head when asked if the government could really lose the welfare vote.

- Jessica Elgot

MPs would come to their senses, he predicted, because they would eventually understand that to fundamentally undermine the government's authority would have consequences which no one could control. Any pretence of stability and discipline would be over. Keir Starmer's own position would be questioned. And - he said - he did not believe that was what MPs really wanted to unleash.

But intended or not, that is what has happened. There was a long-running joke during the election campaign that Starmer had a genie that was responsible for his run of good fortune. That genie is now out of the bottle.

And so, to Tory jeers, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was forced to sit on the frontbench during prime minister's questions in obvious distress, staring into a £5bn abyss.

Many would say it is a mess of their own making - given the strength of feeling about the harm that the welfare bill would cause, the months of warning from disability charities and campaigners, and the mounting private anger of MPs which was communicated forcefully to the whips and then to the deaf ears of No 10. There were endless chances to pause and do things differently.