42 Labour MPs have written to prime minister Keir Starmer to warn him that the Green paper cuts are “impossible to support” and calling for any vote to be delayed until the Autumn, when all the impact assessments relating to the cuts have been published.

The letter has been signed by veteran MPs and new intake MPs from all wings of the party.  It tells the prime minister:

“The Government’s Green Paper on welfare reform has caused a huge amount of anxiety and concern among disabled people and their families. The planned cuts of more than £7bn represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over three million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected.

“Whilst the government may have correctly diagnosed the problem of a broken benefits system and a lack of job opportunities for those who are able to work, they have come up with the wrong medicine. Cuts don’t create jobs, they just cause more hardship.

“Ministers therefore need to delay any decisions until all the assessments have been published into the impact the cuts will have on employment, health and increased demand for health and social care. This is likely to be in the Autumn and only then will MPs be able to vote knowing all the facts.

“In the meantime, the much needed reform of the benefits system needs to begin with a genuine dialogue with disabled people’s organisations to redesign something that is less complex and offers greater support, alongside tackling the barriers that disabled people face when trying to find and maintain employment. We also need to invest in creating job opportunities and ensure the law is robust enough to provide employment protections against discrimination.

“Without a change in direction, the Green Paper will be impossible to support.”

Signatories include:

Diane Abbott

Paula Barker

Lee Barron

Lorraine Beavers

Apsana Begum (currently suspended from Labour)

Olivia Blake

Richard Burgon

Dawn Butler

Ian Byrne

Stella Creasy

Neil Duncan-Jordan

Cat Eccles

Barry Gardiner

Mary Glindon

Sarah Hall

Chris Hinchliff

Imran Hussain

Terry Jermy

Kim Johnson

Mary Kelly Foy

Peter Lamb

Ian Lavery

Brian Leishman

Emma Lewell

Clive Lewis

Rebecca Long-Bailey

Rachel Maskell

Andy McDonald

John McDonnell (currently suspended from Labour)

Abtisam Mohamed

Grahame Morris

Charlotte Nichols

Simon Opher

Kate Osborne

Richard Quigley

Andrew Ranger

Bell Ribeiro-Addy

Zarah Sultana (currently suspended from Labour)

Jon Trickett

Chris Webb

Nadia Whittome

Steve Witherden

Read more in the Guardian and Labour List.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    My MP Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) is not on the list, not a surprise as get a general generic response IF he can be bothered to respond. Absolute deer in the headlights and not a clue how others struggle to get by. Will not be ever getting my vote again and must realise that half of his constituents will not be voting for them again… stupid is as stupid was…😡
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    My labour Mp doesn't seem to be on the list 'Mary Creahg' hardly surprising. Coventry South has always been labour
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    With a brand new Labour MP parachuted into my ward in a seat thought to be now a very safe seat due to new boundary changes My MP is faithful to the government It seems such a shame after the previous hard working back bench MP Had made such an impassioned speech in Westminster defending those with disabilities
    I hope as many of these MPs as possible will vote against this bill rather than just abstain
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    Glad to see my MP's name on that list (Richard Quigley).  Let's hope many more will come to their senses over this.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    My MP isn't on there. And I emailed him about it. 
    My mistake was not telling him there was a photo opportunity. He'd probably be on it if there was. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    My M.P Luke Chambers is backing the cuts ,had I known that when the slimey toad wanted my vote backing for the general election I would never have voted for Labour 
    All the lies they told to get into power is dreadful ,Tories and Labour are the same 
    Labour won't get a second term in office with keir and his ghouls on board, I feel sorry for the decent Labour M.Ps 
    I wish Richard Burgon was Prime Minister and zara sultana deputy prime minister 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 days ago
      @Ej pearce I’ve voted Labour all my life (65 now) even contributed to party funds but Keir and this lot and I exclude the 42 who signed the letter are no more in tune with true Labour values than the Tories. I have already emailed my local mp and told him he will not be getting my vote at the next GE it will be the Greens for me from now on.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 days ago
      @Ej pearce Oh, that wouldn't be bad. :)
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    My MP is not on that list so he can kiss his job goodbye in 4 years time.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 days ago
    Glad to see my MP’s name there. Neil Duncan-Jordan is very concerned with our local issues too and seems pretty decent, I admit, even though I didn’t vote for him! 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 12 days ago
    At least Margaret Thatcher only reformed benefits for new claimants rather than those for existing claimants.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 12 days ago
    Can we start a petition for a petition for a vote no confidence to get g to his test out 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    Most politicians only care about their cushy jobs and Westminster lifestyle. Fair play to those 10%. Real politicians who actually care.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @david Notice that they’re predominantly proper Labour MPs. People may criticise Diane Abbott but she knows her stuff. Likewise for the three suspended MPs. I’d sooner vote for them over any other so called Labour politician. My own MP has his head so far up Starmer it’s a joke, whenever I’ve contacted him his response has been practically word for word Starmer. There’s  no thought gone into what I’ve said which is infuriating. I’m fairly irritated by the punitive nature of new laws regarding the right to protest and the right to privacy. But the attack on vulnerable people shows what Starmer really is and what he wants and what his policies plans for the country are. The party used to fight for the downtrodden, the vulnerable and the needy, now under Starmer’s guidance the party has lurched to the right and now represents nothing but greed. 

      Just to say that after forty years of voting Labour my resolve has been broken, I’ll never vote for them again especially with Starmer in charge. He’s a liability and has wreaked havoc on the party as a whole. He’s one who should be removed from office and the party. It’s a pipe dream I know but i can dream can’t I.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    How the hell can someone vote on a policy that doesn't have all the information and research done on the possible/probable impacts on such radical cuts. Ludicrous. Being rushed through as if it's been wrote on the back of a cigarette packet while having a night down the pub. 

    Something I can't afford to do more than on the rare occasion myself. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 14 days ago
    Apparently labour only need over 80 MPs to  vote against  cuts to get it stopped  heard there's 100 MPs against all of it and might be even more .
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 days ago
      @Lill Well I see on the news today they are now backtracking over heating allowance ,so maybe the pip thing won't happen
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @Lill For Labour to lose this vote over 100 of it's own MP's need to vote against it (abstaining wouldn't count) and ALL the MP's from the other parties need to vote against it. Although most LIb Dem and Green MP's will vote against it, the Reform and Tory MP's certainly won't as they think the proposed cuts to disability welfare don't go far enough!!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 12 days ago
      @Lill But that is if all the other MPs of the other parties vote against it which very unlikely. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @Lill Great, @Lill, I was trying to do the math and came up with around 80, but wasn't sure if I'd gone about it the right way.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 14 days ago
    There are more MPs than have signed this letter who have said they’re opposed and won’t vote for the proposals in their current form. I just saw two on an ITV news clip from yesterday who said they wouldn’t and their names aren’t on the letter. So  maybe at least they’ll be pushing for amendments to the proposals. Or maybe they will be voting against but aren’t yet ready to sign a letter like this. I definitely think there will be more, but who knows how many. The more there are, the more damaging to Labour politically. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @Gingin The worry is that many will abstain rather than vote against in order not to damage their political career within the Labour government but ease their conscience let's say. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 14 days ago
    42 out of 403, disgraceful 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @Ellen That’s the Labour party if 2025, many of us were mugged into voting for them. Fortunately for many of those they’ll not vote Labour again. Unfortunately that gives  Reform or the Conservatives a chance to govern and if you think Labour are bad, watch what they’ll do to the country. Nobody is safe, preventing them from harming vulnerable people should be on your list of things to do. It’s on mine.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 12 days ago
      @Moose They still get a vote!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 14 days ago
      @Ellen But at least 3 suspended signed. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 14 days ago
    So currently approximately only 10% of Labour MP's are not supporting cuts,
     figures may change (up or down) but it remains 90%, the overwhelming majority support the cuts. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 15 days ago
    Things seem to be rolling along in Westminster, more MP'S standing up for us and making their voices heard. It's reassuring to read that this hasn't been forgotten and the labour hierarchy isn't succeeding in trampling them down. It also seems that these proposals are getting more of a mention in the media, with the guardian taking things up with the survey. Good old Diane Abbott, should really be Dame Diane Abbott! 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 14 days ago
      @Ann Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon and all the MPs who are still currently suspended, they are the true Labour Party. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 15 days ago
    Nice to see the Crawley MP,'s name on  the list, As Marc says not enough, enyone know how many needed to vote aganst the proposals? 

    There was a labour MP on the news saying there are about 100 Labour mp's not happy about the reforms.

    Did not say how they will be voting. Thou.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 15 days ago
    Mainstream media now picking up on what the cuts really involve.The losing of health element of UC,a carer and all living allowance.This is the moment when the tide turns in our favour, please god.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 15 days ago
    Great thanks to these MPs who have the courage and moral fibre to stand publically for fairness, justice and good governance. We won’t forget who you are. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @gingin I definately agree on what you say, they deserve a medal standing up to what is right, best of luck to them all, starmer, reeves and kendell need to listen to people and realise what they are doing is soul destroying to pensioners and people with disabilities
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