Tory MPs last night voted through a real-terms cut of benefits and pensions.
A vote held on Monday passed an increase in pensions and benefits by 3.1 per cent in April, despite a cost-of living crisis involving higher energy bills, a national insurance hike scheduled for the same month, and inflation at 4.8 per cent.
The Universal Credit rise of just £10.07 a month and the state pension increase of only £5.55 a week were voted in by 298 MPs, 296 of whom are Conservative.
Cancelling out energy bills support
Labour MPs were whipped to abstain, with only 13 Labour MPs and one Tory, Peter Bottomley, defying the whip to fight the below-inflation increase, The Mirror has reported.
The 3.1 per cent rise for benefits and pensions, which will only rise in relation to what inflation was last autumn, comes on top of the decision to suspend the pensions triple lock, which would have increased state pension by over eight per cent.
This means the state pension will be £185.15 a week from April, but, according to Labour, a couple receiving it would be £355 worse off because of the higher inflation hike – meaning it will cancel out the £350 energy bills help.
Labour MP Beth Winter said: “These are families, pensioners and households who cannot afford to have their benefits cut again.
“But that is what is being proposed today, a three per cent increase where costs are going up by five, six or seven per cent, means that the orders today is a proposal to increase the level of poverty in this country.
“That is why I am backing… calling for a larger increase of six per cent.
“That is why to conclude, this government must withdraw this order and come back urgently with a new offer that ensures social security recipients are not scapegoated and exploited any longer as they have been over the last 10 years by this Conservative government.”
Tories defend poor increase by comparing it to 2010 payments
But the government defended its decision to increase state pension by three per cent, saying pensioners receiving the basic rate will be better off by £2,300 compared to the time when the Tories came to power in 2010.
David Rutley, work and pensions minister, told Parliament: “The state pension is a foundation of support for older people. With this order the basic state pension will rise to £149.26 a week for a single person.
“This means that a full yearly basic state pension will increase by £2,300 a year higher in cash terms than in April 2010.”
Full list of MPs who voted for the real-terms benefits and pensions cut
Bim Afolami – Conservative
Adam Afriyie – Conservative
Nickie Aiken – Conservative
Peter Aldous – Conservative
Lucy Allan – Conservative
Lee Anderson – Conservative
Stuart Anderson – Conservative
Stuart Andrew – Conservative
Caroline Ansell – Conservative
Edward Argar – Conservative
Sarah Atherton – Conservative
Victoria Atkins – Conservative
Gareth Bacon – Conservative
Richard Bacon – Conservative
Shaun Bailey – Conservative
Siobhan Baillie – Conservative
Duncan Baker – Conservative
Steven Baker – Conservative
Harriett Baldwin – Conservative
John Baron – Conservative
Simon Baynes – Conservative
Aaron Bell – Conservative
Scott Benton – Conservative
Paul Beresford – Conservative
Jake Berry – Conservative
Saqib Bhatti – Conservative
Bob Blackman – Conservative
Crispin Blunt – Conservative
Peter Bone – Conservative
Andrew Bowie – Conservative
Karen Bradley – Conservative
Graham Brady – Conservative
Suella Braverman – Conservative
Jack Brereton – Conservative
Andrew Bridgen – Conservative
Steve Brine – Conservative
Paul Bristow – Conservative
Anthony Browne – Conservative
Fiona Bruce – Conservative
Felicity Buchan – Conservative
Robert Buckland – Conservative
Alex Burghart – Conservative
Conor Burns – Conservative
Rob Butler – Conservative
Alun Cairns – Conservative
Andy Carter – Conservative
James Cartlidge – Conservative
Bill Cash – Conservative
Miriam Cates – Conservative
Maria Caulfield – Conservative
Alex Chalk – Conservative
Rehman Chishti – Conservative
Jo Churchill – Conservative
Greg Clark – Conservative
Theo Clarke – Conservative
Simon Clarke – Conservative
Brendan Clarke-Smith – Conservative
Chris Clarkson – Conservative
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – Conservative
Therese Coffey – Conservative
Elliot Colburn – Conservative
Damian Collins – Conservative
Alberto Costa – Conservative
Claire Coutinho – Conservative
Virginia Crosbie – Conservative
Tracey Crouch – Conservative
James Daly – Conservative
Mims Davies – Conservative
Gareth Davies – Conservative
David Davies – Conservative
James Davies – Conservative
Philip Davies – Conservative
Dehenna Davison – Conservative
Sarah Dines – Conservative
Jonathan Djanogly – Conservative
Michelle Donelan – Conservative
Steve Double – Conservative
Oliver Dowden – Conservative
Jackie Doyle-Price – Conservative
Richard Drax – Conservative
Flick Drummond – Conservative
James Duddridge – Conservative
David Duguid – Conservative
Philip Dunne – Conservative
Mark Eastwood – Conservative
Ruth Edwards – Conservative
Michael Ellis – Conservative
Natalie Elphicke – Conservative
George Eustice – Conservative
Luke Evans – Conservative
Ben Everitt – Conservative
Michael Fabricant – Conservative
Laura Farris – Conservative
Simon Fell – Conservative
Anna Firth – Conservative
Mark Fletcher – Conservative
Katherine Fletcher – Conservative
Nicholas Fletcher – Conservative
Vicky Ford – Conservative
Kevin Foster – Conservative
Mark Francois – Conservative
Lucy Frazer – Conservative
Mike Freer – Conservative
Louie French – Conservative
Richard Fuller – Conservative
Roger Gale – Conservative
Nick Gibb – Conservative
Peter Gibson – Conservative
Jo Gideon – Conservative
John Glen – Conservative
Robert Goodwill – Conservative
Richard Graham – Conservative
Helen Grant – Conservative
James Gray – Conservative
Chris Grayling – Conservative
Chris Green – Conservative
Damian Green – Conservative
Andrew Griffith – Conservative
Kate Griffiths – Conservative
James Grundy – Conservative
Robert Halfon – Conservative
Luke Hall – Conservative
Stephen Hammond – Conservative
Matthew Hancock – Conservative
Mark Harper – Conservative
Rebecca Harris – Conservative
Trudy Harrison – Conservative
Sally-Ann Hart – Conservative
Simon Hart – Conservative
Oliver Heald – Conservative
James Heappey – Conservative
Chris Heaton-Harris – Conservative
Gordon Henderson – Conservative
Antony Higginbotham – Conservative
Damian Hinds – Conservative
Simon Hoare – Conservative
Richard Holden – Conservative
Kevin Hollinrake – Conservative
Philip Hollobone – Conservative
John Howell – Conservative
Paul Howell – Conservative
Nigel Huddleston – Conservative
Neil Hudson – Conservative
Eddie Hughes – Conservative
Jane Hunt – Conservative
Tom Hunt – Conservative
Jeremy Hunt – Conservative
Ranil Jayawardena – Conservative
Bernard Jenkin – Conservative
Mark Jenkinson – Conservative
Robert Jenrick – Conservative
Dr Caroline Johnson – Conservative
David Johnston – Conservative
Andrew Jones – Conservative
Fay Jones – Conservative
Marcus Jones – Conservative
David Jones – Conservative
Simon Jupp – Conservative
Daniel Kawczynski – Conservative
Alicia Kearns – Conservative
Gillian Keegan – Conservative
Greg Knight – Conservative
Danny Kruger – Conservative
John Lamont – Conservative
Andrea Leadsom – Conservative
Edward Leigh – Conservative
Ian Levy – Conservative
Andrew Lewer – Conservative
Ian Liddell-Grainger – Conservative
Chris Loder – Conservative
Mark Logan – Conservative
Marco Longhi – Conservative
Julia Lopez – Conservative
Jack Lopresti – Conservative
Jonathan Lord – Conservative
Tim Loughton – Conservative
Craig Mackinlay – Conservative
Cherilyn Mackrory – Conservative
Rachel Maclean – Conservative
Alan Mak – Conservative
Kit Malthouse – Conservative
Anthony Mangnall – Conservative
Scott Mann – Conservative
Jerome Mayhew – Conservative
Paul Maynard – Conservative
Jason McCartney – Conservative
Karl McCartney – Conservative
Esther McVey – Conservative
Mark Menzies – Conservative
Johnny Mercer – Conservative
Huw Merriman – Conservative
Stephen Metcalfe – Conservative
Robin Millar – Conservative
Maria Miller – Conservative
Amanda Milling – Conservative
Nigel Mills – Conservative
Andrew Mitchell – Conservative
Gagan Mohindra – Conservative
Damien Moore – Conservative
Robbie Moore – Conservative
Penny Mordaunt – Conservative
James Morris – Conservative
David Morris – Conservative
Joy Morrissey – Conservative
Jill Mortimer – Conservative
Wendy Morton – Conservative
Kieran Mullan – Conservative
Holly Mumby-Croft – Conservative
David Mundell – Conservative
Sheryll Murray – Conservative
Andrew Murrison – Conservative
Lia Nici – Conservative
Caroline Nokes – Conservative
Neil O’Brien – Conservative
Matthew Offord – Conservative
Guy Opperman – Conservative
Neil Parish – Conservative
Mark Pawsey – Conservative
Mike Penning – Conservative
John Penrose – Conservative
Andrew Percy – Conservative
Chris Philp – Conservative
Christopher Pincher – Conservative
Daniel Poulter – Conservative
Rebecca Pow – Conservative
Victoria Prentis – Conservative
Tom Pursglove – Conservative
Will Quince – Conservative
Tom Randall – Conservative
John Redwood – Conservative
Jacob Rees-Mogg – Conservative
Angela Richardson – Conservative
Laurence Robertson – Conservative
Mary Robinson – Conservative
Andrew Rosindell – Conservative
Douglas Ross – Conservative
Lee Rowley – Conservative
Dean Russell – Conservative
David Rutley – Conservative
Gary Sambrook – Conservative
Selaine Saxby – Conservative
Paul Scully – Conservative
Bob Seely – Conservative
Andrew Selous – Conservative
Alok Sharma – Conservative
Alec Shelbrooke – Conservative
David Simmonds – Conservative
Chris Skidmore – Conservative
Henry Smith – Conservative
Royston Smith – Conservative
Julian Smith – Conservative
Chloe Smith – Conservative
Greg Smith – Conservative
Amanda Solloway – Conservative
Mark Spencer – Conservative
Ben Spencer – Conservative
Alexander Stafford – Conservative
Andrew Stephenson – Conservative
Jane Stevenson – Conservative
John Stevenson – Conservative
Bob Stewart – Conservative
Iain Stewart – Conservative
Mel Stride – Conservative
Graham Stuart – Conservative
Julian Sturdy – Conservative
James Sunderland – Conservative
Desmond Swayne – Conservative
Robert Syms – Conservative
Derek Thomas – Conservative
Maggie Throup – Conservative
Edward Timpson – Conservative
Kelly Tolhurst – Conservative
Michael Tomlinson – Conservative
Justin Tomlinson – Conservative
Craig Tracey – Conservative
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – Conservative
Thomas Tugendhat – Conservative
Shailesh Vara – Conservative
Martin Vickers – Conservative
Matt Vickers – Conservative
Theresa Villiers – Conservative
Robin Walker – Conservative
Jamie Wallis – Conservative
Matt Warman – Conservative
Giles Watling – Conservative
Suzanne Webb – Conservative
Helen Whately – Conservative
Heather Wheeler – Conservative
Craig Whittaker – Conservative
John Whittingdale – Conservative
Bill Wiggin – Conservative
James Wild – Conservative
Craig Williams – Conservative
Gavin Williamson – Conservative
Mike Wood – Conservative
Jacob Young – Conservative
Julian Lewis – Independent
Rob Roberts – Independent
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