Welfare Plans to cut disability benefits a mistake, say insiders

Government officials have admitted they made a mistake by making the financial case for cutting benefits as they steel themselves for up to 50 Labour MPs to rebel against the welfare bill that is to be published today.

- Pippa Crerar Jessica Elgot

Sources told the Guardian that they now believe they should have focused on the moral case for reforming the welfare system, arguing that it is letting down millions of people who could be supported into work.

Labour insiders believe they could have kept more MPs on side if they had not highlighted the £5bn savings the Treasury would make as a result of the cuts to health and disability benefits that have angered the party.

At the time of the spring statement, ministers said there were two justifications for the move - one was to get people off benefits in the long term, but the justification for the immediate cut to incapacity benefit was to make sure the system remained financially sustainable. "These plans mean that welfare spending as a share of GDP will fall between 2026-27 and the end of the forecast period," Rachel Reeves told MPs.