108 Labour rebels sign amendment to kill PIP cuts bill

Details: Published: 24 June 2025

108 Labour rebels have signed an amendment to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill which, if it secured a majority, would kill the bill.

The amendment was published on the Parliament website this morning. It declines to give a second reading to the PIP cuts bill, giving a devastating set of reasons for this, including:

its provisions have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers;
because the Office for Budget Responsibility is not due to publish its analysis of the employment impact of these reforms until the autumn of 2025;
because the majority of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade;
because the Government’s own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of these provisions, including 50,000 children;
because the Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs.

The amendment is signed by at least 11 Commons committee chairs, including:

Dame Meg Hillier. Treasury select committee
Debbie Abrahams. Work and Pensions select committee
Helen Hayes. Education select committee
Sarah Owen. Women and Equalities select committee
Florence Eshalomi. Housing, Communities and Local Government committee
Paulette Hamilton. Health and Social Care select committee
Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Defence select committee
Cat Smith Procedure committee
Ruth Cadbury. Transport select committee
Patricia Ferguson. Scottish Affairs committee
Ruth Jones. Welsh Affairs select committee

The amendment would need to be selected by the Speaker in order for it to be voted on. If it was passed it would mean no vote would take place on the bill itself and it could not proceed further.

But, even if it is not selected, it gives a clear indication of the minimum number of Labour MPs considering voting against the government bill. A minimum of 83 Labour MPs would need to vote against the bill for it to fail, but only if every opposition MP joined them.

However, according to the BBC, the Conservatives have now indicated that they are yet to decide whether to support the bill, with Kemi Badenoch saying she did not want to alert Labour to her plans before the bill was voted on.

This raises the possibility that the Labour leadership could get the bill through by relying on Conservative votes. Whether ministers would be prepared to risk the fracturing of the party such a move would cause is another matter.

There has not yet been any reaction to the amendment from the Labour leadership, but this is unquestionably a massive blow to their plans to cut benefits and suggests that their attempts to bully MPs to vote for the Green Paper reforms have backfired spectacularly. With so many committee chairs signing the amendment, and the probability that non-cabinet ministers are waiting in the wings to resign if necessary, disciplining the rebels seems to be out of the question.

Full alphabetical list of Labour MPs who have signed the amendment

If your MP is on the list below, you might want to send them an email thanking them for their support. And if they aren't on the list, perhaps drop them an email and ask them to consider signing, for all the reasons listed in the amendment.

Abbott, Ms Diane

Abrahams, Debbie

Al-Hassan, Sadik

Allin-Khan, Dr Rosena

Arthur, Dr Scott

Baker, Richard

Bance, Antonia

Barker, Paula

Barron, Lee

Beavers, Lorraine

Begum, Apsana

Betts, Mr Clive

Billington, Ms Polly

Bishop, Matt

Blake, Olivia

Brash, Mr Jonathan

Burgon, Richard

Butler, Dawn

Byrne, Ian

Cadbury, Ruth

Coleman, Ben

Collinge, Lizzi

Cooper, Andrew

Cooper, Dr Beccy

Craft, Jen

Creasy, Ms Stella

Davies, Paul

De Cordova, Marsha

Dixon, Anna

Duncan-Jordan, Neil

Eccles, Cat

Edwards, Lauren

Efford, Clive

Ellis, Maya

Entwistle, Kirith

Eshalomi, Florence

Fenton-Glynn, Josh

Ferguson, Patricia

Foxcroft, Vicky

Francis, Daniel

Furniss, Gill

Gardner, Dr Allison

Gilbert, Tracy

Hack, Amanda

Haigh, Louise

Hall, Sarah

Hamilton, Paulette

Hamilton, Fabian

Hayes, Helen

Hillier, Dame Meg

Hinchliff, Chris

Hume, Alison

Hurley, Patrick

Hussain, Imran

Jermy, Terry

Jogee, Adam

Johnson, Kim

Jones, Lillian

Jones, Ruth

Kelly Foy, Mary

Lamb, Peter

Lavery, Ian

Leishman, Brian

Lewell, Emma

Lewis, Clive

Long Bailey, Rebecca

Maskell, Rachael

McDonald, Andy

McDonnell, John

McKenna, Kevin

Midgley, Anneliese

Mishra, Navendu

Mohamed, Abtisam

Morris, Grahame

Naish, James

Naismith, Connor

Niblett, Samantha

Nichols, Charlotte

Onn, Melanie

Opher, Dr Simon

Osamor, Kate

Osborne, Kate

Owen, Sarah

Paffey, Darren

Pitcher, Lee

Platt, Jo

Quigley, Mr Richard

Qureshi, Yasmin

Ribeiro-Addy, Bell

Riddell-Carpenter, Jenny

Rimmer, Ms Marie

Rushworth, Sam

Smith, Cat

Stainbank, Euan

Stewart, Elaine

Sullivan, Kirsteen

Tanmanjeet, Mr

Trickett, Jon

Tufnell, Henry

Turner, Laurence

Vaughan, Tony

Webb, Chris

Western, Matt

Whittome, Nadia

Williams, David

Witherden, Steve

Yang, Yuan

Yasin, Mohammad

Full text of the amendment

That this House, whilst noting the need for the reform of the social security system, and agreeing with the Government’s principles for providing support to people into work and protecting people who cannot work, declines to give a Second Reading to the Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill because its provisions have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers; because the Office for Budget Responsibility is not due to publish its analysis of the employment impact of these reforms until the autumn of 2025; because the majority of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade; because the Government’s own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of these provisions, including 50,000 children; because the Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs; because the Government is still awaiting the findings of the Minister for Social Security and Disability’s review into the assessment for Personal Independence Payment and Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent review into the role of employers and government in boosting the employment of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.

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Susan · 13 days ago
My MP issued a statement before the final talks, but is missing from the list! Guess his mind is easily changed, well so can mine
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Me · 14 days ago
My Labour MP is not on the list and as a result he has lost my vote.
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Jose · 14 days ago
I can see my local MP isn't on the list. I sent her an email few weeks ago and she never responded to my email. It shows that she is definitely supporting the cuts.
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Treez · 16 days ago
My MP hasn't signed this, didn't think he would being as he's voted through the euthanasia bill and the amendment to the abortion bill.
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CC · 17 days ago
Well it is nice to see that my MP has signed this
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TwistedWitch · 18 days ago
Can only Labour MPs add their name to this amendment? If your MP is from a different party can he add his name or does his only chance come when it comes to the actual vote?
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Linda Self · 18 days ago
Instead of cutting benefits, how about making it easier to get a GP appointment to get a diagnosis of illness and behaviour treated, instead of having painkillers thrown at you by a clinician.
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Fizzy Feet · 19 days ago
What I cannot get my head around is them penalising those state pensioners who are on PIP! Are they going to make them get jobs too? How will taking away their PIP enhance their lives, as Timms keeps banging on about? What is the point of financially hurting disabled pensioners? Timms says they are not regularly reviewed but they do get an AR2 to fill in at, say, every 5 or 10 years. Isn’t THAT going to be when they take it away from them?
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  Helene · 17 days ago
  
  @Fizzy Feet Pensioners aren’t eligible for PIP, which ends when the state pension becomes available. It’s Attendance Allowance after that.
  
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Vic · 19 days ago
Starmer ,Reeves & Kendall should resign now disgusting people .
Two of them destroyed their economy & we are the latest victims while they try to claw back the Billions they chucked down the drain with their incompetent Budget decision when they 1st got into No10 .
They are constantly lieing with this explanation that they want to get the disabled back into work .
Its all about one thing saving money .
They cannot be trusted .
Reeves is now begging Mp's not to destroy her plans .
Go now the 3 Stooges !
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Alex · 19 days ago
At least there are some half decent people left in politics. Although I have little confidence that the Tories will help us, they tend to hate us more than Labour and had originally planned to put us on a voucher system, so I doubt they'll save us.

But it is still good to see that some of the Labour MPs do care if we live or die.
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  TwistedWitch · 18 days ago
  
  @Dave I wouldn't be so sure about that. I hope you're right, but I won't be holding my breath to see if you are.
  
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  Dave · 18 days ago
  
  @Alex Labour won’t deal with conservatives it will fracture the labour altogether
  
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Phil · 19 days ago
If the bill went through, make sure never voted for Labour and Conservative ever again! Both are against disabled and disability will ensure we get NOTHING! Kick them OUT!
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Neil · 19 days ago
It sickens me how in all this political mess many people are actually posting vile comments about disabled people being work shy, lazy, scroungers, a burden and many more vile comments.

Disabled people’s struggles and the barriers we have to overcome now seem trival to many who say it’s not fair on taxpayers.

These welfare cuts have been handled so poorly with leaks in the press and misinformation causing so much anxiety but sadly everything that the disability discrimination act and charities stand for to represent disabled people and ensure equality we now see hundreds of vile comments on websites including the BBC declaring contempt and hatred towards a lifestyle we didn’t choose but one that has been portrayed as driving around in luxury cars, living a life of luxury spending all our benefits and that getting PIP is so easy that people without disabilities are getting PIP.

If only these people knew the truth but this Government have not helped the disabled community in anyway in the way it has portrayed us disabled people.

Thankfully numerous Labour MPs have stood up to fight our cause.

I find it also really disappointing that the leader of the Conservative Party responsible for 14 years of austerity now come to the table making demands of the Labour government on the back of disabled people saying they will support the welfare cuts if they get their demands met. Truly vile and disgusting side of politics
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  Ivan · 19 days ago
  
  @Neil Many are those posting vile comments are probably fortunate enough never to have known chronic ill-health or disability. Nor in their families. Hence their complete lack of empathy & ignorance, all fueled by RW populism. Something Starmer & Kendall have also embraced. For those struggling with poor health, it's not just that cutbacks are proposed. People understand the dire state of the nation's economy. That perhaps a freeze at current levels on SOME support may be necessary for a while? (Though raising tax on the wealthiest instead would be the fairest approach). But the cuts proposed, in a financial climate of fast rising costs, are so swingeing (some will lose over £100 weekly), that already vulnerable people are going to be left in financial dire straits. This on top of their daily battles with poor health. All this while the contemptible Starmer commits to spending yet billions more on unnecessary ventures abroad for poking our noses in conflicts that have little to do with this nation's security. It's brutal & being done under a stream of government propaganda, misinformation & outright lies. Who'd have thought we'd have come to this under a (supposedly) Labour government?
  
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Ginny52 · 19 days ago
Hello everyone after a tiring and stressful day!
I want to explain something I said earlier, particularly because I think it might be helpful to read what I read. Some of this I didn’t know in detail.
MJ has pointed out to me the dangers of making myself look like a hysterical name-caller, and I take that to heart.
I’m not going to use the N word again because it is inflammatory and distressing. But if you look up the history of Tiergartenstrasse 4, especially the justifications that were used at the time to get it off the ground, you can learn a great deal from history. At least I did. It is horribly easy to stir up hatred against disabled people, now as much as then. Thank you and much love and hope to all. May tomorrow be with us.
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SevenBees · 19 days ago
my email to my MP, you can copy and paste:

I recently reviewed the list of MPs who have signed the amendment to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill, and I was disappointed not to see your name among them. I am writing to draw your attention to critical findings from a joint briefing by ten leading charities, all of whom strongly oppose this bill.
The charities behind this briefing include:
Scope
Trussell Trust
Mind
Citizens Advice
Sense
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
New Economics Foundation
Child Poverty Action Group
Z2K
Turn2us
Key Findings from the Briefing:
Spending on Benefits Has Not Increased
The UK spends roughly 5% of GDP on working-age benefits—the same as in 2015—with no projected increase by 2030.
Cuts to Universal Credit have offset rising claims for health and disability support.
Comparable Spending to Other Nations
The UK’s spending on disability benefits is similar to or lower than countries like France, Australia, and New Zealand, even with recent increases in claims.
Devastating Impact of the Bill
Over 3.2 million disabled people will lose support.
300,000–400,000 people will be pushed into poverty.
440,000 disabled households will face severe hardship, likely needing food banks.
Flawed Employment Support Assumptions
Even with additional employment support, only 1–3% of those affected (32,000–96,000 people) are expected to find work.
Public Opposition
83% of the public are aware of the planned cuts.
58% oppose them, while only 32% support the changes.
A Broken Promise to Disabled People
Last April, the Conservative government allowed the right-wing media to escalate attacks on disabled claimants, with some outlets labeling us "parasites"—a narrative that persists. While their proposals (such as replacing cash with vouchers or requiring secondary care diagnoses for PIP) were harsh, they at least maintained some form of support.
Now, the Labour government is proposing something even worse: removing support entirely (cash or vouchers) for hundreds of thousands of people—a move the Conservatives wouldn’t have dared.
We Are Not Numbers—We Are Lives
For disabled people, financial support is a lifeline. With soaring living costs and unaffordable housing, these cuts are a death sentence for many. Taking £5 billion from disabled Britons won’t "fix" the economy—it reveals this government’s moral failure.
My Appeal to You
I urge you to stand with disabled constituents by:
Publicly opposing this bill.
Supporting amendments to protect PIP and Universal Credit.
Challenging the narrative that disabled people are a burden.
This is about justice, not charity. Will you fight for us?
Yours sincerely,
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  Auburn Hamie · 19 days ago
  
  @SevenBees
  Just to remind anyone writing to their MP to include their full postal address - this is required to demonstrate residence in the constituency.
  
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  Auburn Hamie · 19 days ago
  
  @SevenBees Thank you, I did copy and paste your email.
  
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Moose · 19 days ago
It sounds like the penny is finally beginning to drop for MPs. The U turn on the pensioners heating keeps being referred to, but…. that single payment loss is minute compared to how much the disabled will lose EVERY month.
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  tintack · 19 days ago
  
  @Moose I think a lot of Labour MPs have been burned by the WFA fiasco. They were asked to defend a policy they didn't really support, so they defended it, then the government eventually backed down, thus making MPs who had defended it look foolish. They don't want to go through that again, and I would guess a lot of them can see the same thing happening all over again with the disability cuts.
  
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Ivan · 19 days ago
I suspect the vote may be close. However, regardless of what the opposition decide (probably largely in favour of these cuts), we've a chance if all Labour MPs of conscience who disagree with the proposed changes actually vote against them. But if more than a few merely abstain due to Starmer's bullying & threats, then I'm not so sure of the outcome? Possibly, it'll go disastrously for us. Let's hope ALL those who oppose this do the right thing!
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john · 19 days ago
Kemi Badenoch is offering to support Starmer's welfare cuts if he works with the Tories. The Tories want bigger cuts to disability benefits, in particular they want those with mental health conditions targeted more, and mobility component targeted as well as daily living component.
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  Ginny52 · 19 days ago
  
  @john A real race to the bottom
  
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  wibblum · 19 days ago
  
  @john Starmer and his vile sidekicks effectively ARE the tories now.
  
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  Claire · 19 days ago
  
  @john Starmer and Co will be in big trouble if they with a huge majority are seen to bow down to the Tories.The party will be ripped apart and could very well be a confidence issue.Of course Kemi Badenoch wants to target even more cuts,that's what started all this vitreol against disabled.
  
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  Neil Cook · 19 days ago
  
  @john Starmer said even the Tories don't know that they're doing right now
  
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YogiBear · 19 days ago
Kemi Badenoch: "The Government is in a mess, their MPs are in open rebellion. If Keir Starmer wants our support, he needs to meet three conditions that align with our core Conservative principles.

"The first condition is that the welfare budget is too high, it needs to come down. This bill does not do that.

"The second condition is that we need to get people back into work. Unemployment is rising, jobs are disappearing, and even the government’s own impact assessments say that the package in this bill will not get people back to work.

"The third is that we want to see no new tax rises in the autumn. We can’t have new tax rises to pay for the increases in welfare and other government spending.

"We are acting in the national interest to make the changes the country needs. And if Keir Starmer wants us to help him get this bill through, then he must commit to these three conditions at the dispatch box."
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  TwistedWitch · 18 days ago
  
  @Marc We can only hope. Jam or marmalade do you think?
  
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  Marc · 19 days ago
  
  @tintack The public bargaining is morally repugnant but yes, what Badenoch is doing is making 3 demands she knows can't be met, especially regarding tax rises. Meanwhile Starmer has just gone to the Tories, cap in hand, while his own party is in open mutiny regarding the policy.
  
  He's toast.
  
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  rookie · 19 days ago
  
  @YogiBear
  @YogiBear
  
  Our Labour prime minister "needs to meet three conditions that align with ... core Conservative principles." to get his policies through.
  
  That's where we are.
  
  "You be us and we'll support you"
  
  This could be a case of mutual self destruct.
  
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  tintack · 19 days ago
  
  @YogiBear It sounds to me that this means the Tories will still vote against it, because the government have already said they're not going to make any more changes and Badenoch is saying the bill doesn't meet the Tories' demands. And even if Starmer did try to make changes to do a deal with the Tories the firestorm that would set off in the Labour party would be visible from space.
  
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Wayne · 20 days ago
Will it still pass all the votes stage's looks like they r still moving forward with the bill
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Dee · 20 days ago
Sadiq Khan joins growing Labour rebellion against disability benefit cuts just announced by the guardian
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  rookie · 19 days ago
  
  @Dee @Dee About time. Where's he been?
  
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