Starmer set to offer Labour MPs further welfare bill concession

Keir Starmer is set to offer Labour backbenchers a further 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.

The Guardian understands the existing eligibility threshold due to be introduced for disability benefits under the new plans could now remain in place until after the completion of a review into the criteria used to assess people.

The review of the personal independent payments (Pip) system, led by the disabilities minister, Stephen Timms, was due to report back in autumn 2026, the same time as the changes to tighten eligibility were scheduled to take effect.

The government is only likely to offer this final concession should the remaining rebels agree it will shore up the passage of the bill.

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.”

While the move is expected to secure the bill’s second reading, it would be a humiliating climbdown for Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, who just hours before had told MPs 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.