Rachel Reeves' local Labour party has called on the chancellor to abandon plans to cut disability benefits, as a rebellion among MPs over the policy intensifies. The Leeds West and Pudsey constituency Labour party (CLP), which campaigned to return Reeves to parliament last year, agreed to write to her 'as soon as possible' to express opposition to the cuts.
The motion, passed unanimously at a Zoom meeting on Thursday night, saw 30 delegates vote in favour with none against or abstaining, according to a Labour source. An earlier vote in April in Bramley, Leeds, which Reeves attended but left before the issue was discussed, had to be abandoned due to insufficient members present.
The government's green paper proposes reducing eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip), affecting about 800,000 people, and cutting the sickness-related element of universal credit. Around 100 Labour MPs, more than a quarter of the party's parliamentary numbers, have reportedly signed a letter urging ministers to scale back the cuts.
Some MPs have expressed frustration over the leadership's handling of opposition. One newly elected MP said: 'There hasn't been any real attempt at engagement. It's been left to backbenchers to hustle for a meeting.' Another noted that a critical letter from 42 MPs to the prime minister last week received no response from Keir Starmer's office.
The government argues the proposals could save £5bn a year from the welfare budget by the end of the decade. Reeves said: 'I don't think anybody, including Labour MPs and members, think that the current welfare system created by the Conservative party is working today. They know that the system needs reform.'
