The Guardian view on Labour’s welfare revolt: ministers should take MPs more seriously | Editorial

The government’s reforms were too fierce. The scale of the backbench rebellion was unusually large. Starmer’s team should have seen what was comingMPs and the parliamentary process rarely get a good press. Most citizens do not trust either of them much. As a result, the decline of parliament’s role in national life has been a familiar topic for decades. Yet, when push comes to shove, as it has done again this week with Labour’s important backbench revolt against the government’s welfare plans, it turns out that MPs actually matter quite a lot.By Thursday morning, more than 120 Labour MPs had signalled opposition to the government’s universal credit and personal independence payment bill. With the bill due to be voted on next Tuesday in the House of Commons, and with Labour’s working majority currently standing at 165, that level of rebellion was irresistible. If the bill as it stands had come to a vote, Labour would have lost. This would have been a fundamental humiliation for Sir Keir Starmer, almost a year to the day after Labour was elected.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...