More Labour MPs are set to heighten pressure on Keir Starmer to introduce a wealth tax instead of slashing disability benefits amid fears the government is heading for an explosive rebellion, The London Economic can exclusively reveal.
A new wave of furious Labour MPs from all wings of the party are expected to urge the prime minister to implement a 2 per cent wealth tax on assets over £10 million – which they say would raise up to £24 billion a year – and reverse his cuts to disability benefits in the coming weeks as backbenchers have today warned the government it faces the “mother of all rebellions”.
It comes after the government announced major reforms to the disability system in a bid to save £5 billion a year by 2030. These include stricter tests to receive Personal Independent Payments (PIP), scrapping work capability assessments, halving incapacity benefits under Universal Credit, and preventing under-22s from claiming them.
Senior Labour figures now believe MPs will feel more uneasy returning to parliament from Easter recess after talking to their constituents about the welfare cuts.
Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East and a former frontbencher, told The London Economic: “When people go back to their constituencies during recess now, they speak to their constituents who are terrified at the fact the government are proposing cuts to disability benefits, which are three times the value of what ended Iain Duncan Smith to resign when he tried to introduce swinging cuts to disability benefits.
“So, they will be coming back to parliament even more concerned about this policy and more determined to press the government to drop it.”
He also noted that MPs “beyond the socialist campaign group” are angry to see the cuts, including Clive Efford, Chris Webb, Neil Duncan-Jordan.
“If the government presses ahead with its cuts to disability benefits, I think it is no exaggeration to say it will face the mother of all rebellions well beyond the left of the parliamentary Labour party,” he said. “There are huge numbers of Labour MPs who are deeply uncomfortable about this. It is not the Labour thing to do and it is not what any of the Labour backbenchers got into politics to do.”
It has been reported that up to 80 MPs have already considered rebelling against the measure.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, said: “The government is proposing the largest disability benefit cuts in a generation. This will impact millions – some households will lose up to £10,000 a year.
“We should be asking the wealthiest to pay their share – not targeting the poorest. I will vote against this proposal.”
Lee Barron, the Labour MP for Corby and East Northants, said: “Everyone would accept that the welfare bill is bulging. The system we have in place now doesn’t support people into work and we need to bridge that gap.
“We can’t cut the benefits of people who can’t work and impoverish them. 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty, and 50,000 of them will be children, as a result of these changes. Those figures simply can’t be supported.
“I didn’t get into politics to impoverish people, I got involved to bring people out of poverty.”
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said: “The important thing is the welfare of my constituents and they’re making their voices heard very, very loudly – they’re worried to death about this. I cannot support measures that are going to so negatively impact upon them.”
Even Labour heavyweights outside parliament have attacked the government. Andy Burnham, the Blairite mayor of Manchester, said Keir Starmer made the “wrong choice,” saying he finds it hard to believe that there will be “no detrimental impact” on disabled people.
The former cabinet minister suggested a tax raise on the super rich arguing: “If you look at how British society, and the world, changed since the 1980s and 1990s, the gap between rich and poor is astronomical now.
“I do have sympathy for what’s being said there. It’s not about an old-fashioned ‘tax the rich until the pips squeeze’.
“We over-tax people’s work and we under-tax people’s wealth. I am not sure the balance is right. It is difficult in government. It’s not easy to balance the books and make things work but I do think we need to proceed with real caution on benefits cuts.”
Richard Burgon has started a petition for a wealth tax after a new Survation poll showed that nine in ten (89 per cent) Labour party members support the measure.
He has gathered over 50,000 signatures and will introduce it to parliament before members vote on whether to cut disability support, which is expected to pass due to Sir Keir’s huge majority in the Commons. It reads: “We believe it is clear you cannot solve the deep problems caused by years of cuts and austerity with yet more cuts and austerity.
“Instead, we need to tax those whose wealth has skyrocketed while the vast majority of people have faced declining living standards, stagnating wages, and public services cut to the bone.”
Burgon concluded: “Of course the government has a problem; it has inherited an economic mess. Things are more turbulent because of some of the actions from Donald Trump and therefore, carrying on in the same way would be very ill-advised.
“A real wealth tax would have to be a part of a larger package to raise funds and turn things around. The Labour government should be proudly redistributing wealth and I don’t think we can just be relying on growth to turn things around after 14 years of the Conservatives.”
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