Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
John Crace

Downbeat Liz Kendall acts as if even she no longer believes in welfare reforms

Liz Kendall
Liz Kendall. Her own department’s figures show that the welfare bill would put an extra 150,000 people into poverty. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock

You’ve got to ask yourself one thing: Just how many Labour MPs really believe in the concessions – sorry, measures (I keep making that mistake) – that the government has offered on the welfare bill. Who has really thought, you know what, it’s great that existing claimants can get to keep their benefits but anyone after November 2026 who finds themselves in need of help can do without. It’s a question of morality. Either you think no one deserves the full personal independence payments or that everyone does. It’s that binary.

Yet here we were again. On Monday, Liz Kendall had laid out her measures to try to mitigate the rebellion on her own backbenches that could have sunk the welfare bill at second reading.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.