'Benefits cuts will make disabled people poorer and widen inequality'

LABOUR MP TO RISK DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY VOTING AGAINST COST-CUTTING MEASURES

-  OLIVER PRIDMORE

A NOTTINGHAM Labour MP says there is "no justification" for the cuts her Government is making to benefits and confirms she will vote against some measures.

Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome says positive welfare reforms being planned are "completely undermined" by £5 billion in cuts.

She wrote a public letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall on Monday, confirming that she will vote against the Government.

It said: "I must oppose measures that will make disabled people poorer and widen inequality in this country. It is not too late to salvage the additional support that could help disabled people into employment, which has been universally welcomed, and shelve the cuts to benefits that will cause immense harm." Her decision to vote against the Government risks disciplinary action being taken by the party. Many thought she could have been kicked out of Labour shortly after the election when it came to voting on an SNP motion to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The policy prevents almost all parents from claiming benefits for more than two children and Labour warned that any MPs backing the motion would be suspended.