'Welfare reforms cannot be dodged'

LABOUR has been urged not to duck out of making major welfare reforms despite fears the party looks like it is targeting the most vulnerable in society.

- By David Williamson

Plans to tighten access to disability benefits have caused unrest among MPs and triggered the resignation of a Labour whip.

The Government’s own impact assessment estimated 370,000 people claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will lose out. The number of future claimants could fall by 430,000.

A Labour MP warned it looked as if the Government was “going after the most vulnerable people in society”. Speaking yesterday, he said: “It was the pensioners to start off with, now it’s the disabled this time.”

The MP, who asked not to be named, warned of unhappiness among some newly elected Labour members, telling the Sunday Express: “They're saying Starmer is not going to lead us into the next election. I think a lot of people would be happy if he stepped down before then.”