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The government scraped a victory in Parliament over its controversial Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (UC and PIP) Bill.
But this was only achieved by gutting it of its most contentious proposals, at the last possible moment, and with many MPs still unclear on what they were actually voting for.
After weeks of mounting rebellion from Labour MPs, disability rights groups, and opposition from the Conservatives who had initially offered to support the cuts, ministers abandoned major elements of the Bill — including proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility and Universal Credit health elements — hours before Tuesday’s vote.
Further concessions – during the debate itself – meant the government limped across the finish line with a reduced majority of 75 (335–260). But the political damage may prove far costlier.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
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What’s left of the Bill?
MP Ian Lavery summed it up: “After all the government’s concessions, there are only two pages left in the Bill as originally written.” And even those two pages (if he was being more than merely poetic) may be reshaped when the Bill returns to Parliament on July 9.
Most significantly, the government announced that it would:
-
Scrap changes to PIP eligibility criteria — removing the “four-point rule” that would have disqualified many with moderate but persistent needs.
-
Delay any future changes to PIP until after a review led by Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms, expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
This marks the collapse of what was supposed to be a cornerstone of Labour’s benefits reform.
In March, ministers had framed the UC and PIP Bill as a £5 billion savings measure designed to cut the growing cost of disability benefits and “incentivise” work.
But as dissent mounted, savings evaporated — along with the government’s credibility.
Critically, these so-called concessions were not written into the Bill that MPs voted on. They remain vague government promises, not law.
And therein lies the trap.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Trust — and the clock — are running out
What now passes for the government’s position is that PIP changes may come later — after the Timms Review reports.
But even that pledge is unclear.
In the debate, Sir Stephen himself admitted that whether the review’s recommendations make it into primary legislation depends on what they are — leaving open the possibility that ministers could betray Labour backbenchers and revert to their original plans if the review doesn’t deliver the political outcome they want.
But thanks to the July 1 vote, the government has Parliament’s approval of the Bill as it was originally written. If ministers chose, they could ignore their concessions altogether, or fob backbenchers off with never-never promises that they’ll play nice sometime in the future – when it suits them.
As – Labour – MP Paula Barker said:
“This has further laid bare the incoherent and shambolic nature of this process — it is the most unedifying spectacle I have ever seen.”
The MS Society called the process “panicked” and “rushed,” and learning disability charity Mencap warned that any positive-sounding changes must be followed by action, not more “consultation theatre.”
That’s why the next stage of the Bill is so critical.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
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What must happen now: three key demands
-
Lock the Concessions into the Bill
Promises aren’t protections. Disability rights advocates — and MPs who genuinely care — must now insist that:
-
No changes to PIP eligibility can be made unless explicitly recommended by the Timms Review.
-
Those recommendations must be co-produced (the government’s words) with disabled people and their organisations — they must not merely be consulted.
-
MPs must get a full vote on the final outcome before any regulations or criteria change.
-
Scrap the Two-Tier System
The current plan creates a grotesque division: someone diagnosed with Parkinson’s before 2026 keeps support; someone diagnosed after, potentially loses thousands. This is discrimination by timing, and as disability groups warn, possibly unlawful.
Timms tried to rubbish the accusation by saying two-tier systems are perfectly normal in social security: “PIP replaced DLA in 2013, but half a million adults are still on DLA today, and that does not cause problems. Parallel running is normal, and actually it is often the fairest way to make a major change.”
But PIP replacing DLA was deeply unfair – and was intended to be, by the Tories who devised it. PIP was introduced as a cutting measure. If Timms thinks the PIP-DLA transition is a model to copy, he’s endorsing a system that kicked hundreds of thousands of disabled people off support and made many more go through degrading, damaging reassessments — that’s not “normal”, it’s a warning.
Oh, and suggesting that the current two-tier system between PIP and DLA “does not cause problems” is also false. The switch to PIP caused people to lose essential support and become dependent on food banks or fall into rent arrears. Suggesting otherwise ignores a decade of criticism, tribunal backlogs, and evidence of serious harm.
-
Guarantee Carer and Child Protection
The Bill still offers no protection to disabled children transitioning from DLA to PIP, nor to the carers who rely on passported benefits like Carer’s Allowance.
These groups must not be sacrificed in an attempt to salvage spreadsheet savings.
The bigger picture: Labour’s crumbling credibility
This isn’t just a policy row — it’s a crisis of trust in a new government barely a year old.
By introducing cuts without consultation, refusing to publish full impact assessments, and making multiple U-turns under pressure, the Labour leadership has alienated its backbenchers and fractured its message.
Even after voting with the government, several MPs made clear they may vote against it again unless the final version honours the promises.
As the BBC noted, this saga “undermines Sir Keir’s authority” and puts pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who now faces a £5 billion black hole (she used to like using that phrase) in her spending plans.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has already warned that tax rises are now “inevitable” — a direct consequence of bungled welfare policy.
So while ministers claim the Bill still represents “important reforms,” few outside the front bench believe them.
As Rachael Maskell put it:
“These Dickensian cuts belong to a different era and a different party. They are far from what this Labour Party is for.”
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
A dead letter – or an opportunity for better?
The UC and PIP Bill now limps forward, stripped of substance and stained by chaos.
But amid the failures lurks opportunity.
Certainly, there is a possibility that Liz Kendall, Stephen Timms, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will betray the UK’s disabled people and push through cuts to PIP eligibility, no matter what the Timms review recommends.
But if MPs and disability groups do nail down the government’s commitments in black and white, and the government goes through with its promise to “co-produce” a better disability benefit system with the people who live within it, we could be on the verge of a quantum leap forward (much to Ms Kendalls chagrin, no doubt).
This was a moment to put disabled people first.
To build policy with them, not for them.
To replace fear with fairness.
It is not too late to do that — but only if those who forced the concessions now follow through and write them into law.
The vote may be over. But the fight for justice has just begun.
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The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Disability benefit cuts: government wins the vote – but loses the argument, credibility, and trust
Share this post:
The government scraped a victory in Parliament over its controversial Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (UC and PIP) Bill.
But this was only achieved by gutting it of its most contentious proposals, at the last possible moment, and with many MPs still unclear on what they were actually voting for.
After weeks of mounting rebellion from Labour MPs, disability rights groups, and opposition from the Conservatives who had initially offered to support the cuts, ministers abandoned major elements of the Bill — including proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility and Universal Credit health elements — hours before Tuesday’s vote.
Further concessions – during the debate itself – meant the government limped across the finish line with a reduced majority of 75 (335–260). But the political damage may prove far costlier.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
What’s left of the Bill?
MP Ian Lavery summed it up: “After all the government’s concessions, there are only two pages left in the Bill as originally written.” And even those two pages (if he was being more than merely poetic) may be reshaped when the Bill returns to Parliament on July 9.
Most significantly, the government announced that it would:
Scrap changes to PIP eligibility criteria — removing the “four-point rule” that would have disqualified many with moderate but persistent needs.
Delay any future changes to PIP until after a review led by Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms, expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
This marks the collapse of what was supposed to be a cornerstone of Labour’s benefits reform.
In March, ministers had framed the UC and PIP Bill as a £5 billion savings measure designed to cut the growing cost of disability benefits and “incentivise” work.
But as dissent mounted, savings evaporated — along with the government’s credibility.
Critically, these so-called concessions were not written into the Bill that MPs voted on. They remain vague government promises, not law.
And therein lies the trap.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Trust — and the clock — are running out
What now passes for the government’s position is that PIP changes may come later — after the Timms Review reports.
But even that pledge is unclear.
In the debate, Sir Stephen himself admitted that whether the review’s recommendations make it into primary legislation depends on what they are — leaving open the possibility that ministers could betray Labour backbenchers and revert to their original plans if the review doesn’t deliver the political outcome they want.
But thanks to the July 1 vote, the government has Parliament’s approval of the Bill as it was originally written. If ministers chose, they could ignore their concessions altogether, or fob backbenchers off with never-never promises that they’ll play nice sometime in the future – when it suits them.
As – Labour – MP Paula Barker said:
The MS Society called the process “panicked” and “rushed,” and learning disability charity Mencap warned that any positive-sounding changes must be followed by action, not more “consultation theatre.”
That’s why the next stage of the Bill is so critical.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
What must happen now: three key demands
Lock the Concessions into the Bill
Promises aren’t protections. Disability rights advocates — and MPs who genuinely care — must now insist that:
No changes to PIP eligibility can be made unless explicitly recommended by the Timms Review.
Those recommendations must be co-produced (the government’s words) with disabled people and their organisations — they must not merely be consulted.
MPs must get a full vote on the final outcome before any regulations or criteria change.
Scrap the Two-Tier System
The current plan creates a grotesque division: someone diagnosed with Parkinson’s before 2026 keeps support; someone diagnosed after, potentially loses thousands. This is discrimination by timing, and as disability groups warn, possibly unlawful.
Timms tried to rubbish the accusation by saying two-tier systems are perfectly normal in social security: “PIP replaced DLA in 2013, but half a million adults are still on DLA today, and that does not cause problems. Parallel running is normal, and actually it is often the fairest way to make a major change.”
But PIP replacing DLA was deeply unfair – and was intended to be, by the Tories who devised it. PIP was introduced as a cutting measure. If Timms thinks the PIP-DLA transition is a model to copy, he’s endorsing a system that kicked hundreds of thousands of disabled people off support and made many more go through degrading, damaging reassessments — that’s not “normal”, it’s a warning.
Oh, and suggesting that the current two-tier system between PIP and DLA “does not cause problems” is also false. The switch to PIP caused people to lose essential support and become dependent on food banks or fall into rent arrears. Suggesting otherwise ignores a decade of criticism, tribunal backlogs, and evidence of serious harm.
Guarantee Carer and Child Protection
The Bill still offers no protection to disabled children transitioning from DLA to PIP, nor to the carers who rely on passported benefits like Carer’s Allowance.
These groups must not be sacrificed in an attempt to salvage spreadsheet savings.
The bigger picture: Labour’s crumbling credibility
This isn’t just a policy row — it’s a crisis of trust in a new government barely a year old.
By introducing cuts without consultation, refusing to publish full impact assessments, and making multiple U-turns under pressure, the Labour leadership has alienated its backbenchers and fractured its message.
Even after voting with the government, several MPs made clear they may vote against it again unless the final version honours the promises.
As the BBC noted, this saga “undermines Sir Keir’s authority” and puts pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who now faces a £5 billion black hole (she used to like using that phrase) in her spending plans.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has already warned that tax rises are now “inevitable” — a direct consequence of bungled welfare policy.
So while ministers claim the Bill still represents “important reforms,” few outside the front bench believe them.
As Rachael Maskell put it:
A dead letter – or an opportunity for better?
The UC and PIP Bill now limps forward, stripped of substance and stained by chaos.
But amid the failures lurks opportunity.
Certainly, there is a possibility that Liz Kendall, Stephen Timms, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will betray the UK’s disabled people and push through cuts to PIP eligibility, no matter what the Timms review recommends.
But if MPs and disability groups do nail down the government’s commitments in black and white, and the government goes through with its promise to “co-produce” a better disability benefit system with the people who live within it, we could be on the verge of a quantum leap forward (much to Ms Kendalls chagrin, no doubt).
This was a moment to put disabled people first.
To build policy with them, not for them.
To replace fear with fairness.
It is not too late to do that — but only if those who forced the concessions now follow through and write them into law.
The vote may be over. But the fight for justice has just begun.
Share this post:
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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