WHAT was described as a ‘fiery’ meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, addressed by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, took place on Monday night ending with several MPs privately claiming that the rebellion over Labour’s plan to slash £5 billion from disabled benefits could end up with Keir Starmer being forced out as leader.
One senior Labour MP told the Independent newspaper: ‘The sharks are circling around the prime minister.’
Up to 170 Labour MPs have in recent weeks signalled their opposition to Starmer’s ‘welfare reform’ bill which aims to cut £5 billion a year.
The vast majority of these ‘savings’ will come from brutally slashing the Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) for the disabled, including ending benefit payments to disabled people unable to wash their lower bodies and unable to cook their own food.
In addition, the bill imposes new restrictions on the ability of the disabled to qualify for PIP, designed to drastically cut the number applying.
The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) has assessed that around 800,000 disabled people currently eligible for PIP will lose the benefits that enable them to lead any kind of life.
This savage attack on one of the most vulnerable sections of society has enraged the working class, as it sees a Starmer government pouring billions into the arms industry on the back of slavishly obeying the demands of US president Donald Trump to increase spending on defence to 5% of GDP.
With the working class already incensed by the policies Starmer has attempted to introduce – to end the winter fuel payments to pensioners, keep the Tory two child benefit cap along with the slavish support given by Starmer to the Zionist genocidal war in Gaza – this attack on the disabled is a step too far for Labour MPs.
However, if they hope that Starmer will back down as he did over winter fuel and the two child cap they are badly mistaken.
Starmer has threatened that any Labour MP that votes against this bill when it comes before parliament next week will be suspended, expelled from the Labour Party or deselected in future elections, with some reporting they have been warned they could be blacklisted from future government jobs if they rebel.
Last week in parliament, Labour’s deputy prime minster Angela Rayner refused to rule out these measures designed to crush any rebellion that would bring down Starmer, splitting the Labour government apart.
Following Monday’s meeting, the rebellion moved from letters of condemnation from Labour MPs to over 100 already signing their names to a wrecking amendment to the welfare reform bill that, if passed, would kill off the legislation by making it impossible to progress any further into law.
An indication of the depth of the split is that the amendment has been led by the Treasury select committee chair Meg Hillier and former cabinet minister Louise Haigh along with Vicky Foxcroft who resigned as a Labour whip last week over the bill.
The split goes right to the top of Starmer’s government.
The wrecking amendment needs to be selected by the speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, for debate.
If it is admitted for debate, Starmer would then have to rely on the support of the Tory MPs to avoid a defeat that would bring him down.
With Labour splitting apart and openly talking about Starmer being forced out of the leadership, increasingly, Starmer’s only chance of survival is to enter a form of coalition with the Tories to create a national government of salvation for British capitalism.
The split reflects the complete break with the Labour government by workers and young people who are rising up against the super-austerity cuts that Labour demands they accept to pay the cost of imperialist war and to keep a bankrupt capitalist system from collapse.
This collapsing Labour government is splitting apart and there has never been a better time for the working class to use its power and force the trade unions to immediately call a general strike to kick out the Labour government and bring in a Workers Government and socialism.
This is the only way forward!
