Plans to slash welfare spending concern backbench Labour MPs

Dozens of backbench Labour MPs are unhappy with plans to cut billions from the rising welfare bill, with ministers holding meetings to persuade them that the changes to disability benefits are necessary.

- Rowena Mason

Labour MPs said there were deep concerns in the parliamentary party that the changes would take money from the poorest, which was not why they had entered government.

No 10 is preparing to make the case for welfare cuts before Rachel Reeves's spring statement, with Keir Starmer's spokesperson saying yesterday that there had been an "unsustainable rise in welfare spending".

"Our broken social security system is holding our people back, our economy back," he said. "We've got three million people out of work for health reasons, one in eight young people is not currently in work, education or training, and that is a shocking situation to be in."