Labour are rushing to get the first vote on personal independence payment (PIP) and universal credit (UC) cuts over and done, with the second reading scheduled to happen on Tuesday 1 July. The earliest the vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill could have happened is the day before.
The government may be hoping the tight schedule will reduce the chances of organised opposition both within and outside Parliament. There are also reports in the Independent that Labour are trying to crush opposition from backbench MPs by threatening that they will be ruled out of government jobs and could lose the Labour whip if they vote against the cuts.
But the resignation of former shadow disability minister Vicky Foxcroft from her position in the whips office last night in protest at the bill will have come as a blow to ministers, who will be hoping there will be no more high profile resignations in the next few days.
Meanwhile Disabled People Against Cuts had already announced a protest rally in Parliament Square on Monday 30 June, starting at 4.30pm and it’s likely that other protests will take place around the country.
Campaigners will now have just a week to try to persuade sympathetic Labour MPs to follow their consciences, rather than allowing tribal loyalties or fear of consequences to dictate how they vote.
