Under the current government concessions people who currently receive Pip or the health element of universal credit will continue to do so. But future claimants will still be affected by the reforms.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, told the BBC her party would vote against the measures
“The benefits bill is too high,” she said.
“It was 40bn just before Covid. It is now projected to be a 100bn by 2030. And what Labour is doing is not making any savings at all. It’s just reducing the rate of increase. That’s why we are not supporting it.”
Other criticism of the government proposals has been diverse, with some saying the reforms will not be as effective as the government hopes.
“I strongly believe that these kind of punitive measures of cutting welfare are not going to have the outcomes that we’ve been told they will,” said Olivia Blake, Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, who is disabled and opposes the reforms.
“I think it will just be about saving money but will actually move spending into areas such as housing services, the NHS and social care,” she told BBC Newsnight.
Blake added that some MPs were still considering their vote, saying the rebellion would be “more significant than maybe people realise”.
Kendall defended the bill in the House of Commons on Monday, saying it aligned with MPs’ shared values around providing support to those that could work while protecting those that cannot.
Modelling published by Department for Work and Pensions suggested around 150,000 people might be pushed into poverty by 2030 because of the welfare cuts – lower than the original 250,000 figure estimated before the government made the concessions.
Sir Stephen Timms is slated to conduct the report that was among the concessions. He told BBC Newsnight that the net effect of the government’s policies would reduce poverty – including the measures to help people into work. He also stressed the need to make Pip sustainable in the future.
The Conservatives have criticised the cost of the bill while the Liberal Democrats have called for proposals to be suspended so they can be further looked at.
The government had hoped to save £5bn a year by 2030 before the concessions. These are now likely to cost around £3bn, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank.
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