Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing down opposition on his controversial welfare reforms from a group of rebel Labour MPs.
Last week saw some major concessions made to the benefits bill, with hopes that this would be enough to assuage those opposing it.
However, 39 Labour MPs signed an amendment to block the bill on Monday, June 30, highlighting that the concessions have not done enough to convince the whole party.
While that’s less of an opposition than the 120 Labour MPs who moved to block the reforms last week, it’s still far from wholehearted support for the Prime Minister’s plans.
The latest changes include protecting those who claim personal independence payment (PIP) from amendments scheduled for November 2026, and reversing plans to cut the health-related element of universal credit.
Even still, the reforms will cost taxpayers around £2.5 billion by 2030, and still push up to 150,000 more people into poverty, which is drawing heavy criticism from some in the Labour party.
Here’s a look at the schedule for Sir Keir, his Cabinet, and the House of Commons, to give an idea of when we’ll know the next steps for the reforms.
What time will the welfare vote be?
Sir Keir’s Cabinet gathered at 9.30am, with the prime minister expected to highlight the importance of the reforms to the ministers present.
This will be followed by a crunch debate about the bill in the House of Commons between all MPs present some time after 12.30pm.
The final vote is expected to be held at around 7pm, depending on the timings of the debate and further conversations between ministers and MPs.
Today marks the second reading of the reform bill, which Sir Keir will undoubtedly be hoping for support on to shore up his crumbling authority.
