Labour MP resigns as government whip in protest at benefit cuts | Welfare

The Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft has resigned as a whip in protest at the government’s welfare plans, saying she will not be able to vote for the cuts to disability payments.

The government is braced for a major rebellion on the welfare bill, which includes significant changes to personal independence payments for disabled people.

Foxcroft, the MP for Lewisham North who was shadow disability minister before the general election, said she was unable to do her job as a whip because she disagreed with the changes and did not believe that cuts were part of the solution to rising inactivity.

In a letter to the prime minister, Foxcroft said the benefits system was “in desperate need of reform” but her experience as shadow disability minister had showed her that the struggles of disabled…