A significant number of Labour MPs are threatening to vote against the government's working-age welfare reform plan when it comes before the House of Commons next week.The reforms are designed to reduce the overall working-age welfare bill by about £5bn a year by the end of the decade.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given way to political pressure and watered down planned welfare reforms to avert defeat by his own party’s lawmakers.

Labour is in a “good place now” on welfare reform, a Cabinet minister has insisted after the Government agreed to water down its plans for benefits cuts amid the prospect of a major rebellion. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall sought to downplay party splits over the legislation after Downing Street offered concessions in a late-night climbdown to head off Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s first Commons defeat.