Welfare Bill - where are we now?

Yesterday parliament voted in favour of the government’s Welfare Bill which now moves a step closer to becoming law. The Welfare Bill is a piece of legislation that must pass through both Houses of Parliament if the proposal set out in last week’s budget are to become law. Central to the proposals are a series of wide ranging cuts to tax credits, as well as further restrictions on welfare for lower earners.

Last week the acting Labour leader Harriet Harman caused disquiet amongst her own party by urging MPs to not oppose the bill. In an attempt to prove the economic credentials the opposition leader ordered MPs to abstain from voting either for or against the government’s proposals. In spite of this 48 Labour MPs voted against the bill, though this was not enough for it to halt its progress with a 184 majority.

The proposal will now go into what is called the “committee stage” – this is where a detailed line by line discussion of the bill takes place with MPs from all parties; the proposals need to be agreed to, amended or removed.

Simon Hopkins, Chief Executive of Turn2us commented

“The proposed Welfare Bill sets out a number of polices that we fear may harm some of the very poorest in society. As the bill goes through the committee stage in parliament I would urge those of all sides of the house to consider the drastic impact cutting the income of families and individuals struggling to get by.
 
“As a charity fighting to combat poverty in the UK we will play our part in raising awareness the impact that these changes may have on those that we support so that the appropriate amendments can be made to protect those needing support.”