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| Harriet Harman to maintain welfare bill stance in face of Labour criticism | Harriet Harman to maintain welfare bill stance in face of Labour criticism |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Labour’s interim leader, Harriet Harman, is to hold her ground on calling for the party to abstain on the welfare and work bill next week despite a storm of criticism from her colleagues. | Labour’s interim leader, Harriet Harman, is to hold her ground on calling for the party to abstain on the welfare and work bill next week despite a storm of criticism from her colleagues. |
| Related: Harriet Harman's wake-up call roused Labour to anger | |
| Harman will face a stormy meeting of the parliamentary party on Monday night, where she will be criticised for overstepping her powers by calling on Labour to accept some of the government’s controversial welfare reforms. | Harman will face a stormy meeting of the parliamentary party on Monday night, where she will be criticised for overstepping her powers by calling on Labour to accept some of the government’s controversial welfare reforms. |
| In an attempt to show she has heard the discontent coming from Labour MPs, Harman is expected to set out four points of opposition. She will say that the party will oppose getting rid of child poverty targets, cutting tax credits, scrapping maintenance grants for the poor and slashing employment support allowances – four of the key elements of George Osborne’s budget. | In an attempt to show she has heard the discontent coming from Labour MPs, Harman is expected to set out four points of opposition. She will say that the party will oppose getting rid of child poverty targets, cutting tax credits, scrapping maintenance grants for the poor and slashing employment support allowances – four of the key elements of George Osborne’s budget. |
| She will also say it is for the next Labour leader, due to be elected in mid-September, to decide whether the party should oppose the withdrawal of child tax credits for more than than the first two children for new families from 2017. | She will also say it is for the next Labour leader, due to be elected in mid-September, to decide whether the party should oppose the withdrawal of child tax credits for more than than the first two children for new families from 2017. |
| Related: Liz Kendall backs Harriet Harman in Labour welfare row | Related: Liz Kendall backs Harriet Harman in Labour welfare row |
| Some Labour MPs, such as Stephen Kinnock, have described the plan as close to eugenics, but Harman has said the party needs to listen to those families in work who feel they cannot afford to have a third child. | Some Labour MPs, such as Stephen Kinnock, have described the plan as close to eugenics, but Harman has said the party needs to listen to those families in work who feel they cannot afford to have a third child. |
| The battle is likely to be between those who argue that Labour can send a message by abstaining on the welfare bill and those demanding a reasoned amendment setting out the party’s points of difference with the government. | The battle is likely to be between those who argue that Labour can send a message by abstaining on the welfare bill and those demanding a reasoned amendment setting out the party’s points of difference with the government. |
| There is little doubt that Harman’s attempt at a show of leadership has been undercut by candidates who believe their election chances would be damaged if they were seen to be giving any support to the government’s welfare reforms. | There is little doubt that Harman’s attempt at a show of leadership has been undercut by candidates who believe their election chances would be damaged if they were seen to be giving any support to the government’s welfare reforms. |
| Liz Kendall is the only one of the four Labour leadership contenders to defend the party’s acting leader, who is being privately attacked for over-reaching her interim role to change the party’s position before a new leader is in place. | Liz Kendall is the only one of the four Labour leadership contenders to defend the party’s acting leader, who is being privately attacked for over-reaching her interim role to change the party’s position before a new leader is in place. |
| Harman is worried that if Labour is not seen to move on welfare, it will be viewed as the party of welfare and not work – Osborne’s long-term strategic aim. | Harman is worried that if Labour is not seen to move on welfare, it will be viewed as the party of welfare and not work – Osborne’s long-term strategic aim. |
| But she appears to have acted without the backing of her party and on Monday acknowledged that some of the key decisions would have to wait for her successor, including whether to support the restriction of tax credits. | But she appears to have acted without the backing of her party and on Monday acknowledged that some of the key decisions would have to wait for her successor, including whether to support the restriction of tax credits. |
| If we carry on making the same arguments we have done over the past five years, we will get the same result | If we carry on making the same arguments we have done over the past five years, we will get the same result |
| Leadership favourite Andy Burnham led the other candidates in calling on the party to oppose the cuts. | Leadership favourite Andy Burnham led the other candidates in calling on the party to oppose the cuts. |
| Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, he said: “We should oppose those changes. That’s how Labour makes itself relevant. Labour wins when Labour speaks for everyone, for the whole and that’s what it will do under my leadership. | Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, he said: “We should oppose those changes. That’s how Labour makes itself relevant. Labour wins when Labour speaks for everyone, for the whole and that’s what it will do under my leadership. |
| “You don’t allow a change that is going to take money off people in work who are trying to do the right thing.” | “You don’t allow a change that is going to take money off people in work who are trying to do the right thing.” |
| Yvette Cooper said tax credits were “an important part of making work pay” for many families. She said: “I think we can be credible and also say we are going to oppose the things that the Tories are doing which are going to hit work and hit people’s incentives to work.” | Yvette Cooper said tax credits were “an important part of making work pay” for many families. She said: “I think we can be credible and also say we are going to oppose the things that the Tories are doing which are going to hit work and hit people’s incentives to work.” |
| Related: With her comments on the benefits cap, Harriet Harman is voicing a Tory agenda | Diane Abbott | Related: With her comments on the benefits cap, Harriet Harman is voicing a Tory agenda | Diane Abbott |
| Jeremy Corbyn said Osborne’s budget had been “brutal and anti-young and anti the poorest in Britain”. | Jeremy Corbyn said Osborne’s budget had been “brutal and anti-young and anti the poorest in Britain”. |
| He said: “I will oppose these changes. The idea that you would have a lower level of benefit for the third, fourth and subsequent children in the family seems to me completely contrary to the principles of the rights of all children equally and fairly.” | He said: “I will oppose these changes. The idea that you would have a lower level of benefit for the third, fourth and subsequent children in the family seems to me completely contrary to the principles of the rights of all children equally and fairly.” |
| Kendall said it was essential that the party showed it had changed if it was to regain the trust of voters. She said: “People said to us: ‘we don’t trust you on the money, we don’t trust you on welfare reform’. If we are going to oppose things we have to put something else in its place, because if we carry on making the same arguments we have done over the past five years, we will get the same result. | Kendall said it was essential that the party showed it had changed if it was to regain the trust of voters. She said: “People said to us: ‘we don’t trust you on the money, we don’t trust you on welfare reform’. If we are going to oppose things we have to put something else in its place, because if we carry on making the same arguments we have done over the past five years, we will get the same result. |
| “We have to put forward a different, credible alternative and Harriet was absolutely right to say that.” | “We have to put forward a different, credible alternative and Harriet was absolutely right to say that.” |
| Kendall said the cuts – which limit support through tax credits and universal credit to two children – needed to be accompanied by the introduction of a genuine living wage above that proposed by the Tories. She added: “I think many parents who are not on tax credits have to make difficult decisions about how many kids they can have and how many kids they can afford.” | Kendall said the cuts – which limit support through tax credits and universal credit to two children – needed to be accompanied by the introduction of a genuine living wage above that proposed by the Tories. She added: “I think many parents who are not on tax credits have to make difficult decisions about how many kids they can have and how many kids they can afford.” |