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Keir Starmer has offered Labour backbenchers a major concession over disability benefits in a last-ditch attempt to limit the largest rebellion of his premiership and get his controversial welfare bill over the line.
Stephen Timms, the welfare minister, told MPs on Tuesday afternoon the government would shelve plans to make major cuts to personal independence payments. Instead ministers will only make changes to the disability payments after Timms has reported the findings of his review into the whole system, which is due to conclude next autumn.
Under the original plans, from November 2026 claimants would need to score four points in a daily living activity to qualify for Pip. Timms said: “[MPs] across the house during this debate have raised concerns that the changes to Pip are coming ahead of the conclusions of the review of the assessment that I will be leading.
“We’ve heard those concerns, and that is why I can announce that we are going to remove the clause five from the bill at committee, but we will move straight to the wider review – sometimes referred to as the Timms review – and only make changes to Pip eligibility activities and descriptors following that review.”
After a chaotic few days during which the government offered Labour MPs huge concessions to save the prime minister from a damaging Commons defeat, dozens of backbenchers were still planning to vote against the bill on Tuesday evening.
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and government whips are said to have warned Downing Street that further movement was needed. One leading rebel told the Guardian: “If they move on this, it’s done.”
But others said the government had now altered the bill beyond all recognition. “What are we supposed to be voting on tonight?” the Labour MP Andy McDonald asked. “Is it the bill as drawn, or another bill? Because I’m confused.”
While the move is expected to secure the bill’s second reading, it is a humiliating climbdown for Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary. Kendall told MPs just hours earlier the new four-point threshold would apply from November 2026 and emphasised the need for the government to take its time over the Timms review to get it right.
The government offered major concessions last week after 126 Labour MPs signed an amendment designed to blow up the bill. These included that no current claimant would be affected by the changes to universal credit and Pip.
Rebels were also promised that the Timms review of the criteria used to assess people for Pip would be a “co-production” with disability groups.
But the terms of reference of the review made clear that there would still be a higher bar for obtaining Pip – new claimants would need a high score of four in at least one of the categories for assessment in order to qualify. However, the review could look again at what abilities and conditions might meet certain scores.
The timing of the review had also caused deep concern, with MPs warning that it risked creating a “three-tier” system, which would include claimants assessed pre- and post-Timms review.
