Labour MPs Increasingly Oppose Government's Welfare Reform Plans

Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester and former MP, said the government should listen to its MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

\"When the PLP delivers its collective wisdom in such numbers it is invariably right, and it is right on this,\" he said.

\"When there was such unease that was so widespread and actually from really good people, from all parts of the party, the names, they were from all wings of the party.

\"If I look back, if the government that I was in, had listened to the PLP it would have been a better government, because it would have made better decisions.\"

Parliament is due to vote on the government's welfare reform plans next week.

Labour MP Jake Richardson, who is supporting the government, said the current welfare system is \"simply unsustainable\".

\"I would gently urge colleagues to step back, look at this unsustainable welfare situation we have at the moment,\" he said.

\"They cannot like all the nice, easy spending money parts of welfare reform without accepting all the difficult decisions that come with that.\"

The latest British Social Attitudes report shows that 45% of respondent felt there should be more spending on disability benefits - the first time the figure has dropped below half since the question was first asked in 1998.

It is still up to the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle whether this specific amendment gets voted on, but that could now be more likely as a number of other MPs from parties including the SDLP and the DUP have also added their names to the list.

The welfare reform bill - called the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill - will include proposals to make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim personal independence payment (Pip).

Speaking on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of Nato leaders, Sir Keir said he planned to \"press ahead\" with the welfare reforms, despite the objections from within his own party.

He said the current welfare system \"traps people\" on benefits, and was set to fuel \"unsustainable\" rises in the cost to taxpayers.

According to the source: BBC.