PIP reform plans: Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn joins Labour rebellion over welfare bill

Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn has co-signed an amendment which would give MPs the possibility to reject the welfare reform bill in its entirety.

"I want to be clear this is not a decision I have taken lightly,” he said.

"In eight years as a councillor and almost a year as an MP, I have not broken the whip, and I have made difficult and unpopular choices and cast many difficult votes, because sometimes in politics, the reality is that there are no easy choices, only hard ones.

"However, while I will support a hard choice where it can be justified in pursuit of a larger goal, I won't support a bad choice.”

The welfare reform bill includes proposals to make it harder for some disabled people with less severe conditions to claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

If the amendment signed by Mr Fenton-Glynn and dozens of other Labour MPs is selected by House Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle – and the majority of MPs vote in favour of it – the welfare reform bill will be blocked.

Mr Fenton Glynn said his previous work on the welfare system with Oxfam, the Child Poverty Action Group, and Church Action on Poverty means he knows making the proposed changes “will simply lead to people being forced into poverty with potentially greater costs to our health and care system as a result”.

"I believe there are elements to the government's welfare reform proposals that are genuinely good and progressive,” he said.

“But the changes to the PIP ratings that would mean, at present, that someone who can't put their trousers on, who needs help with showering, and who can’t go to the toilet without supervision, is told that they are capable of work, don't reflect the need for change.

"Since these proposals were first announced, I have worked to do everything possible to avoid being in this position and to urge the government to reconsider.

"I hope the government reconsider their approach so that we are not forcing loyal MPs into an impossible position next Tuesday.”