UK's Starmer vows to press on with welfare reforms despite opposition

By Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper

THE HAGUE/LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Tuesday to press on with his reforms to the welfare system despite opposition by more than 100 of his lawmakers who are threatening a major rebellion over the changes.

In what would be a major blow to Starmer a year after he won a large majority in parliament, Labour lawmakers have spearheaded an effort to kill the government's welfare plan at a vote due next week, saying it failed to provide support for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

The British leader, on his way to a NATO summit to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine, said there was no alternative to reforming a system he described as broken and one that trapped people on benefits at levels of spending the state could not cope with.

"That is not a system that can be left unreformed, not least because it's unsustainable, and therefore you won't have a welfare system for those that need it in the future," he told reporters travelling with him to The Hague.

"So those that care about a future welfare system have to answer the question - how do you reform what you've got to make sure it's sustainable for the future?"

Due to ballooning welfare spending, which had been on course to top 100 billion pounds ($129 billion) by 2030, Labour said in March it planned to cut more than five billion pounds from its welfare budget by 2029/30.

The government argues its proposed welfare cuts would be backed by support for people using benefits to get back into work.

But even though ministers have tried to soften the impact of changes to the sickness-related part of Universal Credit benefits and to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), designed to cover disability-related costs, dozens of lawmakers are still opposed.

THREATENED REBELLION

The more than 100 lawmakers, including heads of select committees which probe government policy, have tabled a "reasoned amendment," used to express opposition to a proposed law. If that amendment is selected by parliament's speaker and then passed in next week's vote, it would halt the proposed law.

In their amendment, the Labour lawmakers declined to support the progress of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in parliament.

They said the bill contained "dangerous and counterproductive cuts to entitlements aimed at disabled people" and lacked "measures to take proper account of the needs of people with ... long-term conditions."

One Labour lawmaker who supports the government said the amendment was "very awkward" but that ministers could yet manage to contain the scale of the potential rebellion.

A spokesperson said the government was engaging with colleagues and Starmer's cabinet of top ministers "collectively supported" the proposed changes.

"We are focused on delivering last week's bill. We're engaging, talking to colleagues," the spokesperson said.

"The government believes firmly in a Britain when no one gets written off, where people who can work get ... support and where those who can't get respected with decency and fairness."

($1 = 0.7350 pounds)

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper, additional reporting by Alistair SmoutEditing by Bernadette Baum)