There was predictable anger from the left of the party on display in the House of Commons, too.
MP Clive Lewis warned Kendall that his constituents, friends and family were “very angry” about the changes to come — and warned this is not the kind of action a Labour government should be taking.
Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman said: “Reducing welfare by £5 billion is the wrong moral decision. This is not what the Labour Party should ever do.”
More worrying for Starmer was the intervention from Debbie Abrahams, chair of parliament’s work and pensions committee, who told MPs there were “alternative, more compassionate, ways to balance the books, rather than off the back of sick and disabled people.” Getting an influential select committee chair on side would be vital to the success of any challenge to the plans to come, a fourth, rebellious MP noted.
Long way to run
Even Starmer’s allies acknowledge there is now danger ahead for the prime minister.
Welfare ministers Kendall, Timms and Alison McGovern were all holding formal briefings with MPs, starting Tuesday night and continuing Wednesday, in what one MP described as a “charm offensive.”
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