LABOUR MPs are reportedly to be blacklisted for Government jobs if they fail to back welfare cuts.
Rebels face the prospect of having the party whip suspended if they vote against plans to claw back £7 billion from the benefits budget.
But those considering abstaining have been warned they will not be considered for promotion, The Times reports.
A senior Government source told the paper that many new MPs failed to appreciate the “gravity” of the situation if they believed that abstaining would help them evade sanction.
They said: “If someone has any ambition to be a minister then they need to realise that will never happen if they duck out of this.
“Being an MP is not just about being popular with your constituents.”
Another insider added: “You’d have to be mad to ever expect to seriously be looked at for promotion after not supporting this flagship piece of legislation.
“If you’re wavering now, then anyone made a [private parliamentary secretary] or minister would be on resignation watch at future votes. Why would we take the risk with them?”
The Government’s working majority of 165 means that 83 Labour MPs would need to rebel for Keir Starmer to lose a vote.
An open letter signed by 42 Labour MPs last month warned that the Government’s cuts “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”.
MPs are also jittery over an impact assessment published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which found that 250,000 people would be pushed into poverty by the changes, of whom 50,000 children.
A handful of ministers are also on resignation watch, according to The Times.
DWP Secretary Liz Kendall (below) published the bill to enact the changes on Wednesday.
Nearly 400,000 people are set to be affected by tougher tests to qualify for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the main disability benefit in England, by 2029.
Around 800,000 new claimants will receive lower incapacity top-ups of £50 per week, down from the present rate of £97.
Tens of thousands of young people will be barred from claiming Universal Credit health payments by raising the age at which this can be claimed to 22.
A concession came in the form of allowing PIP claimants a 13 week grace period before their top-ups are downgraded.
