Bullish to damaged Final-hour concessions could define the rest of PM's time in office

Hours before MPs were due to vote on the government's welfare bill yesterday, Angela Rayner conveyed an urgent message to Downing Street.

- Kiran Stacey Jessica Elgot

Hours before MPs were due to vote on the government's welfare bill yesterday, Angela Rayner conveyed an urgent message to Downing Street. She had spent the day in intense talks with Labour rebels including Sarah Owen and Florence Eshalomi, and come to the conclusion the concessions offered just days earlier had failed. Dozens of them were still planning to vote against the government, and one of Keir Starmer's major economic policies hung in the balance.

He agreed to Rayner's proposal to make the biggest concession available without withdrawing the bill altogether.

The planned cuts to personal independence payments (Pips) would be shelved, Starmer agreed, and any future changes to the system would be implemented only after a review by the welfare minister Stephen Timms, in conjunction with disability groups.

The prime minister relayed his message to a handful of potential Labour rebels, and directly to the Commons chamber, where MPs had been debating the measures for more than three hours. In huddled conversations on the frontbench, the U-turn was communicated to the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, and then hastily announced by Timms.

This capped the most tumultuous 24 hours of Starmer's premiership: one that has proved how badly damaged the prime minister has been by his first year in power and which could define the rest of his time in Downing Street.

Ministers began the week feeling bullish. The U-turns announced on Friday - including limiting the Pip changes to new claimants only - appeared to have won the support of leading rebels including Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee.

Kendall went to the Commons to outline the concessions to MPs. But despite her confidence, some felt she had tripped on the finer details and even contradicted herself.