North East Herts MP Chris Hinchliff willing to lose Labour whip over benefit cuts
Labour MP for North East Herts Chris Hinchliff is willing to lose the party whip by rebelling against planned welfare cuts.
He is among more than 120 Labour MPs to have signed an amendment that would halt plans to cut disability and sickness-related benefits payments to save £5 billion a year by 2030.
According to Sky News, 250,000 people across the country could be pushed into poverty by the move, which would make it harder for disabled people with less serious conditions to claim the Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Mr Hinchliff, whose constituency includes the East Herts villages of Little Hadham, Braughing, Standon and Puckeridge, believes the strength of opposition within the Labour parliamentary party could lead to a change of tack from the Government.
“There are some very, very senior Members of Parliament who are leading the reasoned amendment – select committee chairs like Meg Hillier and Debbie Abrahams,” he said. “Those are voices that ministers will always be listening to and won’t be able to easily ignore.
“The sheer number of Labour MPs who are publicly stating their support for the call for change, and who are expressing their concern, is of such a volume that I don’t think the Government has any choice but to listen.”
Asked if he would be willing to lose the party whip if the Government doesn’t listen, Mr Hinchliff said: “Yes, if it comes to it. I don’t think it will, though.”
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has insisted that the Government will proceed with Tuesday’s planned vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
She told MPs on Wednesday (June 25) that the Government wants to help people back into work and end reassessments for those who are most severely disabled.
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has said the Government’s proposals would protect the most vulnerable and see nine out of every 10 PIP claimants retain the benefit.
The Conservatives have offered to lend their support to the bill, but only if the Government commits to reducing welfare spending and to no new tax rises in the budget.
Mr Hinchliff said he “absolutely understands” the Government’s aim of bringing down the country’s growing welfare bill, with spending on disability benefits rising from £25.6 billion in 2019-20 to £44.9bn in 2024-25, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility
But he added: “I’m certainly not prepared to do that on the backs of some of the people who are already the poorest in our society.
“[The] Personal Independence Payment… is not an out-of-work benefit. It is a payment that many people are using to support themselves in various ways that allow them to at least do part-time work.
“Taking those payments away from those people will in fact make it harder for many disabled people to work. It’s counter-productive in that respect.”
Mr Hinchliff recognised, however, that “there are a significant number of people on disability benefits who would like to be in work”.
“The way to achieve that is through upfront investment to make sure they have access to the mental health support they need, the physical support they need.
“If you’re worried that there are too many people who aren’t healthy enough to be in work and therefore are needing financial support, as far as I’m concerned, the answer to that is not to take away the financial support – the answer to that is to make sure you’re giving them the support necessary for them to be healthy enough to go back to work.
“The thing that disability charities are raising again and again is that there are many disabled people who would like to go to work, and the challenge they face is often with employers not providing the support they need, with reasonable adjustments and all that sort of stuff.
“We’re trying to move in the right direction on employment rights and investment in the NHS. These things will take time, but that is why it is an ‘invest now to save later’ argument for me.”