Red line 'Cuts would push 250,000 people into poverty'

NORTH Somerset MP Sadik Al-Hassan has joined a major rebellion against the Government - saying he cannot support cuts to PIP as a father of a disabled son.

- John WIMPERIS

Mr Al-Hassan is one of more than 120 Labour MPs to have signed a "reasoning amendment" which would halt the passage of the Government's Welfare Bill. The bill would mean fewer disabled people could claim personal independence payments (PIP) which the government's own assessment has found could push 250,000 people into poverty.

Mr Al-Hassan, a pharmacist who was elected as North Somerset's first ever Labour MP last year, said this was a "red line" for him. He said: "As the father of a disabled son, I couldn't vote for anything that would make his life, or the life of others like him, harder."