Disabled Labour MP says welfare U-turn would create ‘unethical two-tier system’ | Politics

A disabled Labour MP has said Keir Starmer’s chaotic U-turn on welfare reform will create an “unethical two-tier system”, in a damning intervention which will put further pressure on the prime minister to change course.

Olivia Blake, one of only nine MPs in parliament who has a disclosed disability, said the proposed changes to the welfare bill have been “plucked from the air” by ministers scrambling to secure support for the bill in Tuesday’s crunch vote in the Commons.

“The first thing I thought when I heard the concessions was, wait, we’ve not taken the step back that’s needed here, we’re working to improve a bill which is really harmful,” she said. “This could form an unethical two-tier system that treats two people with the exact same injury or illness…