After a bruising week for the government what should they learn to do differently? And can they show a restive PLP that they too will be treated with respect and dignity?
There was no "dignity" in this bill, nor was it a reform in any real sense. It was just cuts, made arbitrarily to fit a desired target, with no thought given to the secondary costs that would arise from making them. Short term, blinkered, and foolish.
The government failed to convince rebels not because of any political errors, it failed to convince them because its arguments were clearly flawed. They persisted in trying to claim this bill wouldn't be as bad in terms of impact while maintaining their claims of savings - the two are impossible to have at the same time. The fact that the review of PIP criteria will take place later, *after* the change to eligibility, is ridiculous. It's like being asked to vote on what percentage should be considered a passing grade for an exam without knowing the topic or any of the questions. I could go on but you get the point, it would have been obvious to most of them that the short term cuts were the only point to this, and everything else was poorly arranged window dressing to try and make them seem in some way logical.
I'm sure it didn't help that MPs felt like they weren't being listened to, but the bill itself failed on it's own lack of merit, and (thankfully) because we still have MPs in the Commons who have some morality when it comes to the vulnerable. It's the public that Labour needs to rebuild trust with now. The disability cuts defeat was just the latest in a series of what should have been entirely predictable failures. Starmer needs to reevaluate wherever he is getting his advice from, because at the moment those people are doing Reform's job for them.
It’s true that the Labour leadership have handled things very badly. They failed to engage with MPs, took their support for granted, haven’t built relationships or addressed their concerns. It’s been unforgivably amateurish.
At the same time, there’s a valid criticism that Labour MPs need get serious about the fact that they are government at a period of extraordinary difficulty. They can and should demand better policy out of the leadership, but it’s not realistic to insist that there can be no cuts in expenditure.
I fear now that little of substance will be achieved in this term. What a waste of a great majority.
There was no "dignity" in this bill, nor was it a reform in any real sense. It was just cuts, made arbitrarily to fit a desired target, with no thought given to the secondary costs that would arise from making them. Short term, blinkered, and foolish.
The government failed to convince rebels not because of any political errors, it failed to convince them because its arguments were clearly flawed. They persisted in trying to claim this bill wouldn't be as bad in terms of impact while maintaining their claims of savings - the two are impossible to have at the same time. The fact that the review of PIP criteria will take place later, *after* the change to eligibility, is ridiculous. It's like being asked to vote on what percentage should be considered a passing grade for an exam without knowing the topic or any of the questions. I could go on but you get the point, it would have been obvious to most of them that the short term cuts were the only point to this, and everything else was poorly arranged window dressing to try and make them seem in some way logical.
I'm sure it didn't help that MPs felt like they weren't being listened to, but the bill itself failed on it's own lack of merit, and (thankfully) because we still have MPs in the Commons who have some morality when it comes to the vulnerable. It's the public that Labour needs to rebuild trust with now. The disability cuts defeat was just the latest in a series of what should have been entirely predictable failures. Starmer needs to reevaluate wherever he is getting his advice from, because at the moment those people are doing Reform's job for them.
It’s true that the Labour leadership have handled things very badly. They failed to engage with MPs, took their support for granted, haven’t built relationships or addressed their concerns. It’s been unforgivably amateurish.
At the same time, there’s a valid criticism that Labour MPs need get serious about the fact that they are government at a period of extraordinary difficulty. They can and should demand better policy out of the leadership, but it’s not realistic to insist that there can be no cuts in expenditure.
I fear now that little of substance will be achieved in this term. What a waste of a great majority.