Broken Liz acts as if she doesn't believe in her own bill - was this sorry mess worth it?

You've got to ask yourself one thing: Just how many Labour MPs really believe in the concessions - sorry, measures (I keep making that mistake) - the government offered on the welfare bill.

- John Crace

Who really thought, you know what, it's great that existing claimants can get to keep their benefits but anyone after November 2026 who finds themselves in need of help can do without. It's a question of morality. Either you think no one deserves the full personal independence payments or that everyone does. It's that binary.

Yet here we were again. On Monday, Liz Kendall had laid out her measures to try to mitigate the rebellion that could have sunk the welfare bill at second reading. The Labour benches had been rammed. Those whose minds could not be changed. Those who were looking for a reason to believe in any olive branch because they were desperate not to vote against their own government. Something with which to salve their consciences. The Conservative benches were almost empty. Welfare isn't really their thing.

Yesterday was groundhog day. Many of the same faces sitting in the same places. Labour MPs wrestling with their consciences. Tory MPs feet up watching the tennis at Wimbledon. Reform nowhere to be seen. Yet again, this was an entirely domestic dispute within the Labour party. Those who had not come into politics to tip another 150,000 into poverty. Those who could live with that. Collateral damage en route to a brighter, more glorious future.